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Thursday, May 16, 2019

Thank You, Little Cuter

Little Cuter works with a lot of very smart people.  They have PhD's and positions of authority at a Prestigious American University.  They are also delightful human beings.  We know this because she tells us so, but also because in the office of The Shakespearean Scholar hangs a handsomely framed Forbidden Planet poster.  As the saying goes, he had TBG at Hello.  

When he recommended this book, Little Cuter sent it my way for Mother's Day.
Yes, it's Romeo and Juliet written in text messages.  Just as Elizabethan English is difficult for high schoolers, texting is often beyond obscure to their grandparents.  This slim volume may just bridge the gap.  

Knowing what's happening allows the reader to notice the beauty of the  language.  In Marin, I paired Shakespeare with several picture book re-tellings, including Moss Gown.  
The 5th graders gave formal readings (we had invitations and programs) before interested family, friends, and faculty, The Bard's words rolling off their tongues fluidly, with meaning and expression.  It made sense to them.  

I think I might try the same thing with Romeo and Juliet next year. 

What a great gift - memories and a new project and a book.  Thanks, kiddo.

5 comments:

  1. I hold your dainties cheap, [madam], and your welcome dear

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  2. I'm going to share this with my Shakespearean Scholar. She left her high school theater teaching position to teach 7th graders so as to have more time with her two little girls.

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    1. We also did Julius Caesar - "He plowed her, and she cropped" was something I told them they were certainly old enough to figure out. Silence. Then laughter.... loud laughter. Only afterwards did I notice the principal standing in the doorway, giving a tour to a prospective family. Oh. Well.
      a/b

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    2. ^^^ CLASSIC MOMENT FROM MY CHILDHOOD

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