The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Romeo and Juliet by Ian Lendler

The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Romeo and Juliet by Ian Lendler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Paperback, 96 pages
Published September 29th 2015 by First Second
Source: egalley via Netgalley

Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue (#2)


Just adorable! Macbeth was my favourite but this comes pretty close. That's probably my own bias though since I love Macbeth and don't like Romeo and Juliet. However, Lender changes everything about R&J that bothers me turning it into a cute little romp of a tragedy. Romeo is a rooster and Juliet is a bear and instead of being in love they become BFF's! They don't commit suicide but go into hibernation and the theme is prejudice: petting zoo animals vs forest animals. The book is a joy to read; Lender has such a crazy sense of humour and Giallongo's art is comical. Regular characters return from the last book and mention of last week's play, Macbeth, is made. The monkey family returns and the audience antics are probably my favourite part. I'd hardly call these a real introduction to Shakespeare as the plots have been changed so much rather it's just a jumping off point for Lender to make a riotous pastiche of classic literature. The ending tells us that the next book will be a comedy, I wonder what it will be?? I'd love to see this author/illustrator duo take on "The Taming of the Shrew"!Just adorable! Macbeth was my favourite but this comes pretty close. That's probably my own bias though since I love Macbeth and don't like Romeo and Juliet. However, Lender changes everything about R&J that bothers me turning it into a cute little romp of a tragedy. Romeo is a rooster and Juliet is a bear and instead of being in love they become BFF's! They don't commit suicide but go into hibernation and the theme is prejudice: petting zoo animals vs forest animals. The book is a joy to read; Lender has such a crazy sense of humour and Giallongo's art is comical. Regular characters return from the last book and mention of last week's play, Macbeth, is made. The monkey family returns and the audience antics are probably my favourite part. I'd hardly call these a real introduction to Shakespeare as the plots have been changed so much rather it's just a jumping off point for Lender to make a riotous pastiche of classic literature. The ending tells us that the next book will be a comedy, I wonder what it will be?? I'd love to see this author/illustrator duo take on "The Taming of the Shrew"!