Shakespeare Week 2018 runs from 12 – 18 March this year and there are many ways to introduce your child to the Bard of Avon, without scaring them off – after all, ‘Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed’ (Henry V, Part 1).

Let’s start with The Animated Tales. This delightful series compresses each of Shakespeare’s masterpieces into a mere 30 minutes or so. The animation brings to life the poetry and the passion of twelve of Shakespeare’s best loved plays.  You can watch the plays on Youtube (see below) or buy them on DVD.

Whilst Shakespeare’s beautiful blank verse cannot be beaten, it’s hard to resist Shakespeare in Fluff, a kind of Greatest Hits of Shakespeare, as performed by fluffy animals.

Usborne’s Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare retells six tales with useful notes.

Marcia Williams’ Mr William Shakespeare’s Plays presents beautiful comic strip versions of Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.

Shakespeare’s generous contribution to our language is celebrated in Horrible Histories’ Wicked Words.  You can also buy The Shakespeare Stories – a set of 16 books written especially for children.

There are an abundance of online resourced dedicated to Shakespeare and his works. This Horrible Histories clip is a particularly hilarious one. How are you planning to celebrate Shakespeare Week this year? Let us know in the comments section.