Reviews: (by author)

(3 reviews)

Coville, Bruce. William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Illus. Dennis Nolan. New York, 1999. $16.99. ISBN 0-8037-2462-4.

Lushly illustrated in soft reds and golds and paired with well-written prose, this is an outstanding adaptation of the play. Highly recommended for older children.

 

Coville, Bruce. Twelfth Night. Illus. Tim Raglin. NY: Dial, 2003. $16.99. ISBN
0-8037-2318-0.

This is the fourth picturebook retelling of Shakespeare by Bruce Coville, who does a superb job of retelling the stories in prose accompanied by top illustrators: Dennis Nolan, Gary Kelley, and in this volume, Tim Raglin—known to many as the illustrator of the Robin Williams' video version of Pecos Bill and, recently, a very funny New Yorker cover. With its humor and twists of plot, Twelfth Night is a solid selection for the older young reader (8 and up to read alone) and Coville maintains a feeling for the language of Shakespeare's time but in contemporary prose. Personally, I find these prose picturebook retellings preferable to some of the dramatic retellings and abridgements I've seen done for elementary school performance (see my earlier reviews in this category), and of these picturebooks, Coville's do stand out for general excellence and for their single story format. To get a bigger bang for your buck, there are the collected tales by Marcia Williams (reviewed below) and Random House's collection by Andrew Matthews.

Alida Allison, October 2003

 

Coville, Bruce. The Monster's Ring. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003. $4.99.   ISBN 0-689-85692-X. 105 pp.

Visit www.brucecoville.com.

This story takes place during the Halloween season, which is an immense deal for Russell Crannaker, the fifth-grade main character.   Russell is a shy, easily intimidated adolescent whose biggest problem in life is Eddie, the fifth-grade bully.   One of Eddie's greatest thrills is tormenting Russell on a daily basis.   By chance, Russell stumbles upon a magic shop called "Elives' Magic Supplies."   Here, he meets Mr. Elives, the owner, and buys the monster's ring.   Russell is cautioned by Mr. Elives that he should carefully read the directions before using the ring.   Russell fails to do so and is transformed into a vicious monster that he can hardly control.   In the end, Russell uses his transformation to teach Eddie a lesson.   Soon after, they call a truce and become friends.  

Not only is this story entertaining, it can be very educational for an adolescent reader.   The plot addresses minor issues such as carefully reading directions to forgiveness of people's actions.   There were instances of scary content, but nothing that a youth reader cannot handle.   There are many vivid descriptions and details throughout the story that guarantee to keep a child's interest in Russell's adventures and magical happenings.

Recommended
Whitney Kuroyama, May 2004

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