Michael Rosen's Pocket Shakespeare: A Beginner's Guide to the Best Bits of the Bard

The ultimate beginner’s guide to the magic of Shakespeare, from the award-winning Michael Rosen and Chris Riddell.

Step inside a sparkling celebration of the wonderful words of William Shakespeare. With former Children's Laureate Michael Rosen as your guide, discover how Shakespeare explores love and heartbreak, magic and superstition, jealousy, beauty and much more in a collection of quotes and speeches taken from his plays – plus a selection of Shakespearean insults and one-liners! Michael Rosen’s commentary illuminates the Bard for beginners alongside sumptuous illustrations by Chris Riddell, making this the perfect book to bring Shakespeare to life for all ages.

Michael Rosen is one of the most popular authors for children; his bestselling titles published by Walker Books include We're Going on a Bear Hunt, A Great Big Cuddle and Michael Rosen’s Sad Book. A popular radio broadcaster, distinguished critic and academic, and multi-award-winning poet, Michael was appointed the Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009, and is now Professor of Children's Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Chris Riddell is one of the country's finest children's book illustrators, and was Children's Laureate from 2015–17. He has won the Kate Greenaway Medal three times – for Pirate Diary, Gulliver's Travels and The Sleeper and the Spindle. He is a political cartoonist for the Observer and has collaborated with Paul Stewart on the extremely popular Edge Chronicles and Muddle Earth series. In recent years he has had success writing and illustrating his own books, including the Ottoline stories and Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, which won a Costa Book Award.