"""I read ""Julius Caesar"" first with my 8 year-old son and he loved it. After all it had ghosts and sword swinging... so what's not for a boy to love. He liked it so much, in fact, that he immediately asked that we re-read the story again, this time a longer version, and this time with the aid of his older sister -- so we could share out the rolls. We did, and the three of us had a blast. THE SKINNY::: This book is so much fun. The parts that should have been grisly were downright funny -- which is why my kids wanted to read it again and again. I think that having three different stagings makes the plays very adaptable to different situations. You can essentially pick the length and degree of complexity that best fits your situation. The book contains 3 slightly different versions of the play. All of the versions take about 10-15 minutes to read or act out, but the number of speaking parts .AND. the degree of plot complexity varies. This is the second book in this series that we've read, and I must say that it won't be the last. I simply adore that I can introduce Shakespeare to my children much earlier than I had thought possible. We discuss the plays on their level, and it introduces them to the Bard's best known lines so that when we hear them in other places, we are reminded of where the phrases come from."" Pam T mom/blogger (Amazon top 500 reviewer) ""This book rocks! The kids act these out over and over again. They are witty -- they tell the story, they engage the kids, you can add a ton of ""extras"" to the scenes, random friends can jump in -- this is great for building inside jokes among your kids. And who doesn't love fake-stabbing? (Spoiler -- in one of the melodramas, Brutus has nothing to lose, so he stabs the narrator. Good times!) I will be getting more form this series -- this is the most fun we've had at dinner for quite a while."" - Amazon Review ""Love love LOVE this book! I teach a small class of kids ages 7-11, and this is just what they needed to be introduced to Shakespeare. I especially love the author's introduction where he explains how he came up with this idea and what the purpose of the book is (to introduce kids to Shakespeare in a fun way). My students LOVED it and had a lot of fun performing it for their parents. I highly recommend this!"" -Amazon Review ""This is a very cool series. You can simple read it to become familiar with Shakespeare or you can use it as the script for a play. It adapts to 3 different cast sizes, containing 3 different scripts. All the direct Shakespearian quotes are highlighted for reference. Love this product."" -Amazon Review ""This play was a big-time winner with my 5th grade students! I love how there are three options to choose from depending on how many actors you want to have in the play. They are long enough to understand the overall plot but short enough to maintain high interest from students. The kids loved it, and wanted to do another Shakespeare play as soon as possible. If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is!"" -Amazon Review ""My 9 year old daughter had such a great time performing this wonderful and hilarious interpretation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. We will definitely be back for more of Mr. Kelso's Playing with Plays!"" -Amazon Review"