Will’s Words

Title: Will’s Words
Author: Jane Sutcliffe
Major Themes: William Shakespeare, The Globe Theater, Language
Synopsis: Along with pictures and description of the Globe Theater and plays in early 17th-century London, 29 sayings which originated with or were popularized by Shakespeare are detailed.

We all know that Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest writers in the English language. I didn’t know, however what an enormous influence he had on the way we talk today. It was incredible, as I read this short picture book, to learn about all the common expressions we use every day, which originated with Shakespeare. Expressions such as “What’s done is done,” “Too much of a good thing,” and even “excitement” originated in Shakespeare’s plays. Some of these sayings are still used the same way he used them, but a lot have changed somewhat in meaning. I found it fascinating to see where 29 of our common sayings came from—they are now “household words”, which, by the way, is another of Shakespeare’s sayings!

Along with the expressions originating from Shakespeare, Will’s Words describes the Globe Theater, where Shakespeare’s plays were first produced, and the way the plays were performed. The pictures are wonderfully detailed, and really bring the time to life. I plan to read this book to my boys very soon, to go along with reading The Shakespeare Stealer. The pictures in Will’s Words will really help us to picture the events in our book more easily.

I received a free ecopy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

No warnings!