Synopsis:
Much Ado About Nothing has been adapted into a graphic novel by Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow, with illustrations by Wendy Tan Shiau Wei. The famous battle of wits and misunderstandings reads like your favourite film on the page – as confusion abounds, compounds and finally untangles.
Classics in Graphics is a series of graphic novels for children aged 10 plus that has inclusion at its heart, flinging wide the doors of literature for everyone to enter and understand. Including dyslexia-friendly design on every page, and encouraging readers to relate to these iconic roles – casting spells, falling in love and winning duels.
Each graphic novel includes pitch-perfect illustrations for presenting the tragic, the romantic, the comedic, the magical, as well
– snappy simplified text presenting Shakespeare’s themes clearly
– introductory materials to help set the scene and context of each story
– heaps of extra material at the back to keep the learning and fun going, including an exploration of themes in the play, the language, Shakespeare’s inspirations, the publication and performance of the play in history, a timeline of Shakespeare’s life and works, and much more!
Review:
These graphic novels are such a great idea. I’ve always been someone that’s interested in Shakespeare’s stories but I knew I would struggle with the older language. There’s no need to worry about that anymore. This Much Ado About Nothing adaptation has simplified the language, making Shakespeare’s work accessible for all.
The art work of Much Ado About Nothing is really fun. I love the cartoon style, it feels very clean while still being visually appealing. The block colours and simplistic font make this such an easy read. I loved the art style a lot. Beatrice’s character design was my favourite part.
The story was really easy to follow, which was my biggest concern. I think these graphic novels are technically made for children, but that’s what made them especially great for me. I knew nothing about Much Ado About Nothing before opening this but now I know the whole story. This is also helped by the back section of the graphic novel. There are simple explanations on every theme in the story, a short summary for each part of the story and a glossary for what some of the less commonly used words mean.
It feels wrong to review the story aspect of this graphic novel as the author obviously didn’t write it. Well, they did write this version but the idea isn’t originally theirs. Does that make sense or am I being silly? This story is silly, that’s the best way of describing it.
I’d highly recommend checking out this graphic novel adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing if, like myself, you’ve wanted to read Shakespeare’s work but felt put off by the older language. It’s fun, vibrant and highly informative.
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