Reading and comfort levels
Posted by: Kaite Stover
The Children’s Book Council of Australia recently named the winner in the Picture Book category, Hamlet by Melbourne artist Nicki Greenberg. It’s a graphic novel based on the Shakespeare play.
Yet the author is encouraging parents to review her graphic novel before giving it to very young children. It may be a picture book, Greenberg says, but it isn’t necessarily for young children. A panel of eight librarians deemed the book award worthy over many other entries.
There are other graphic novels that add a pictorial element to Shakespeare’s beloved play and a search on Amazon will return quite a few to choose from. Hamlet by Neil Babra, Hamlet by Kathy McEvoy, Hamlet by Rebecca Dunn, and manga Shakepeare’s Hamlet by Richard Appignanesi.
Pulling together numerous versions of this theatrical classic may be an intriguing topic for some book groups. Start with the play and move onto the graphic novels.
