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Shakespeare & Beyond

Off the Shelf: A Shakespearean Botanical, The Battle of Agincourt, Year of the Fat Knight, and more

Off the Shelf collage
Off the Shelf collage

Here’s a round-up of Shakespeare-related books, fiction and nonfiction, that are on our must-read list.

Ira AldridgeIra’s Shakespeare Dream

Glenda Armand (author), Floyd Cooper (illustrator)

This story of famed African-American actor Ira Aldridge, who believed he could be a great Shakespearean if only he were given the chance, is an inspirational tale for children ages 7 to 12. Aldridge traveled to England to become one of the most celebrated Shakespearean actors in Europe in the nineteenth century.


A Shakespearean BotanicalA Shakespearean Botanical

Margaret Willes

In the manner of a Renaissance herbal, this illustrated compendium relates the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers of Tudor and Jacobean England—from aconite to wormwood—to quotations from Shakespeare’s plays, including Falstaff’s exhortation to “Let the sky rain potatoes” (which were believed at the time to have aphrodisiac properties).