This short, humorous, graphic novel retelling of [b:Macbeth|8852|Macbeth|William Shakespeare|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327866505s/8852.jpg|1896522] hits all the key points of the original, while omitting the lengthy speeches and Shakespearean language that can make it difficult for younger readers to enjoy the Bard.

Lendler and Giallongo do a good job at keeping in enough witches and gore for the plot to be interesting, but not so much gore to make the book inappropriate for kids. I laughed when a large elephant derrière blocked the audience's view of the "horrible," "gruesome," "best scene in the whole play."

All in all, The Stratford Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth is a fun introduction to Shakespeare for kids, comic book lovers, and anyone a bit overwhelmed by iambic pentameter.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley. ( )

If you have ever wondered what the zoo animals do at night, well they put on shows. They start off with Macbeth, the famous play by Willy Shakespeare. The play is presented and we the readers get to see not just the play, but the audience thoughts and participation. We find out why things like intermissions happen. This was the simplest but craziest retelling of Macbeth ever put to paper. I loved every minute of it. Between the three witches trying to find the perfect witch laugh, and the queen dealing with her “spots”, kids will get a nice basis for the story, and have a better time than they would with a Great Illustrated Classic. ( )

While this graphic novel will probably not send elementary and middle school students scrambling to the original source, at least they'll be developing a familiarity with Shakespeare and hopefully, an appreciation of his work. This comedic interpretation of MacBeth makes an appealing case, and the cast of zoo thespians are terrific. MacBeth is a lion, Lady MacBeth is a leopard (oh, those spots!), and MacDuff is a sleuthing stork, complete with trench coat and fedora. The art is bright and expressive and the panels are easy to navigate, with little asides from audience members and more than one instance where a skillfully placed animal obscures the presumed violence onstage. Readers familiar with the play will undoubtedly get the biggest kick out of this parody, but young graphic novel fans will find much to like here, too. Same AR level as popular graphic novel Amulet, 2.9, but the point is only 0.5. -JF ( )

THE STRATFORD ZOO MIDNIGHT REVUE PRESENTS graphic novel series by Ian Lendler and Zack Giallongo is an engaging way to introduce youth to the works of Shakespeare.

Designed for the middle grades, Macbeth is the first book in this graphic novel series. A group of animals puts on plays for an animal audience at their zoo. Their first production is MacBeth. This child-friendly retelling includes the basic structure of the play along with hilarious comments from the audience during the performance. Although the most famous lines are evident, the play is shortened to focus on just the key elements.

Librarians will find this series to be a wonderful way to introduce Shakespeare’s greatest works. Consider building literature circles that focus on each of Shakespeare’s key works.

To learn more about Ian Lendler, go to http://ianlendler.com/.
To learn more about Zack Giallongo, go to http://zackgiallongo.com/.

Published by FirstSecond, an imprint of Macmillan. ( )

The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth by Ian Lendler is a graphic novel adaptation / retelling of the Scottish play by Shakespeare. Now when I see an animal themed "presentation" of something famous like this, I'm skeptical. So often, these things are dumbed down, simplified, and so far removed from the original that there's no point in keeping any reference to the title except perhaps to make it sound vaguely educational.

Not so with the Stratford Zoo series (their take on Romeo and Juliet comes out in this year). Though the animals are doing their own thing, the characters are still recognizable. The humor is on point plot-wise and outlandish at the same time (as a good parody should be).

But what makes this book really something special, something to show to everyone (as I have been doing!), is the acting by the animals. Or, put more succinctly, the artwork by Zack Giallongo, is hilarious. It's like reading the storyboard to an old Warner Bros' short (think Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, or Friz Freeling). ( )