Charles Baker Books Limited, London. U K

A bouquet of the best blooms of Shakespeare is what this series of eight offers. There's tragedy (Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet) as well as comedy (The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream). There are courtroom trials and love scenes, secret plots and open battles, grand palaces and dark forests, strange drugs and fairy magic. There are glimpses of ancient Italy, Greece, England and even lands that are mythical.

Shakespeare wrote for the stage. His work is in the form of scenes. It is meant to be seen not just read. But this does not mean that theatre, film and television series are the only medium for it. The pictorial form suits it fine as it frames scene after scene like still photographs taken of stage performances. From this pictorial series of eight, the young readers will get a taste of Shakespeare's poetry as well as see his drama unfold before their eyes. Turning the fifty-two colourful pages of each book in the series they will feel as if they are watching Shakespeare on stage.