Treasure Island: Rum or Gum?

I recently had the privilege to watch a video of a school group in New Jersey perform my Treasure Island for Kids, and of course, it was AWESOME! That being said, one thing I kept noticing…. they were saying “Rum” incorrectly… but wait! No, they weren’t, they were saying “Gum”!

When re-writing classics tales like I do, I do my best to stick to the original plotline as much as possible.  However, there are several times where that’s not possible. Sometimes with the length of the story or around specific content covered in the stories.  And Treasure Island is … Continue reading

Sneak Peek at Shakespeare for Kids Books

Shakespeare for Kids

Many people ask to see a sample of my books.  So, I finally did it… here is the link to see a small excerpt from each and every title that I have.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Sneak Peek at Shakespeare for Kids books

Get Author Signed Copies of my Plays!

Macbeth Cover

I have had many requests for signed copies of my books for students, classes, and teachers.  I have finally set up my site so I can accommodate these requests easily!  So, you can now buy your books directly through me and they will be signed! (yeah!)  You can purchase them here.

If you ever have any questions, let me know!

That’s all!

Break a leg out there!

Brendan

Testimonial of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for Kids

The following testimonial touched my heart so much, I had to share it.

I was following up on a Goodreads book giveaway that I did for my latest book Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for Kids. When a mom came back with two paragraphs of glowing sentiment. Here’s an excerpt of what she wrote:

Thank you again so much. I can’t even begin to thank you enough. It was so fun watching them put on this play and the memories we all made will never be forgotten. This is definitely going to be a play they put on every year … Continue reading

Can Shakespeare’s Henry V be done in 30 tweets? #ShakesTweet

Fellow blogger and Shakespeare fan, Alan Peat, (@alanpeat) was a bit bored one day and decided for his 50th birthday to tweet all of Shakespeare’s plays in 50 tweets or less (not in one day, cuz, that’d be a bit crazy).  So, he knocked out his first “Shakestweet”, Henry V.

twitter Continue reading

Shakespeare’s Language Made Simple – Shakespeare for Kids

I recently read an article about two Shakespeare plays, currently on Broadway, being staged the way they would have been in Shakespeare’s day. Minimal sets, all male casts, engagement with the audience, and a heavy emphasis on the language. In fact, the article stressed that back when these plays were first performed, people would often say that they had gone to “hear” a play, not “see” a play, like we do today.

That got me thinking about how far society has come in our exploration and interpretation of these plays. Sets get flashier and costumes get more and more elaborate. Movie versions of the plays incorporate music … Continue reading

Treasure Island for Kids is here!

These are the late nights. Writing Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island for Kids has been a BLAST! Possibly because it is my first foray outside of Shakespeare, possibly because it is about pirates (I mean, who doesn’t want to write about pirates, right?!?!) or possibly it’s because when it comes down to the launch of a new book, it’s always exciting! But, it’s finally here!

Treasure Island Cover Continue reading