Charles Lamb / Mary Lamb
Tales from Shakespeare is an English children’s book that was written in 1807 by siblings Charles and Mary Lamb. It was meant to be 'for the use of young people' and uses as much Shakespearean language as possible. The comedies were told again by Mary Lamb, and the tragedies were told again by Charles. They left out the more complicated historical stories, like all the Roman plays, and changed the ones they did include in a way that was appropriate for young children without actually editing them. But subplots and sexual references were taken out. They both wrote the beginning. Warner says in the introduction to the 2007 Penguin Classics edition that Mary’s name didn’t appear on the title page until the seventh edition, which came out in 1838. Young kids in the early 2000s might find this book too challenging to read, and there are other options available. Still, this version of the story of the Lamb siblings stays very true to the original, which is good for kids who want to read or learn the plays exactly as Shakespeare wrote them.
