Love sonnets are for romantics, starry-eyed lovers and ardent hearts. And Shakespeare’s sonnets are the best ever written. But this is why they are also for cynics, for star-crossed lovers and for those who know the anguish of unrequited love. Some appear to be written to a young man, some to a woman. And although the poems are full of mystery – why did Shakespeare write them, and to whom? – each one speaks to us from across the centuries of love, hate and the intensity of being alive.

This hardback is part of VINTAGE COLLECTOR’S CLASSICS, a series of luxurious books especially crafted for collectors and fans of beautiful special editions. Sumptuous design meets the highest quality production. Discover timeless classics beautifully bound for every bookshelf.

Shakespeare For Every Day of the Year is a magnificent collection of 366 extracts from Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Each page of this unique book features an extract – which might be a famous poem, quote or scene – matched to the date it sits on – and an introductory paragraph which gives readers a new window into the work, time and life of the greatest writer in the English language.

The book also includes synopses of each play, a comprehensive timeline covering Shakespeare’s life, major historical events, and offers context for his works.

Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year is perfect for reading or sharing, and brings you Shakespeare’s best-known and best-loved classics alongside lesser known extracts. Esiri’s entertaining and insightful thoughts on each entry will fill your year with wonder, laughter, wisdom and wit.

‘Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year is not just for Christmas, but for all time.’ – Helena Bonham Carter

“It’s Shakespeare for children – but in a radical new form ? the book is illustrated by Emily Sutton, who has supplied more than 150 ingeniously detailed watercolour drawings ? it’s a rare delight to find a children’s edition that leaves Shakespeare’s language intact.” The Daily Telegraph, 5 stars

“What a lovely treasure! A wonderful introduction to Shakespeare’s timeless plays.” Greg Jenner, You’re Dead to Me

The first-ever illustrated children’s edition of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, published to celebrate its 400th anniversary – a sumptuous gift book to treasure for ever.

Published in association with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Shakespeare’s Plays is the first-ever illustrated children’s edition of the First Folio, one of the greatest books ever published which celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2023. The sumptuously illustrated book, with luminous and detailed artwork by Emily Sutton, includes all 36 plays in the original volume, in the same order. The plays preserve Shakespeare’s original dramatic language, but have been skillfully abridged by Dr Anjna Chouhan so they can be performed by a minimum of eight children in under twenty minutes. The perfect accessible introduction to Shakespeare in his own words for a child, this is a very special gift book that will be returned to time and time again.

‘The course of true love never did run smooth’

Hermia loves Lysander. But she must marry Demetrius or be condemned to life in a convent. Together, Hermia and Lysander plan to elope to escape their fate. But Helena, Hermia’s best friend, secretly loves Demetrius and, hoping to win his heart, tells him about the plan.

Deep in the forest, the four unlucky lovers cross paths with Oberon, the jilted fairy king. When a powerful, love-inducing flower is put to nefarious use, a case of multiple mistaken identities sets in motion a night of magic and mayhem that could change all of their lives forever.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is Shakespeare’s magical romantic comedy of trickery, love triangles and mistaken identities.

Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays celebrating the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.

Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:
As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia Hibbert
Hamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Macbeth – With a foreword by Kat Delacorte
Much Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne
Romeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

‘Something is rotten in the state of Denmark’

The King of Denmark is dead. When Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, meets the King’s ghost and discovers he was murdered, he swears vengeance against the killer: his father’s brother, Claudius, who has married Hamlet’s mother and taken the throne.

Furious at this betrayal, Hamlet devises a complex plot to reveal the truth and enact his revenge. But Claudius has a devious plan of his own. Together, they will bring devastation to the entire court.

Hamlet is Shakespeare’s timeless story of grief and a revenge so unrelenting that by curtain’s close, all the major players are dead.

Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.

Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:
As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia Hibbert
Macbeth – With a foreword by Kat Delacorte
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky Albertalli
Much Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne
Romeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

‘It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood‘

On a bleak, stormy night in Scotland, three witches prophesy: Macbeth will be a lord twice-over and Macbeth will be king; but Banquo’s sons will also be kings.

When the witches’ predictions start to come true, the ambitious Lady Macbeth vows to help her husband become King of Scotland and hold on to the throne – by any means necessary. But as the pursuit of power leads them down a dark and bloody path, the Macbeths soon begin to unravel.

Macbeth is Shakespeare’s famously blood-soaked tale of greed and prophecy so powerful that superstitions about the curse of ‘The Scottish Play’ continue to this day.

Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.

Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:
As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia Hibbert
Hamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky Albertalli
Much Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne
Romeo and Juliet – With a foreword by Jennifer Niven

A bloody feud. A tangled love. A senseless tragedy that brings two families to their knees.

After a chance meeting at a ball, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet fall desperately in love. But their families are locked in a bitter rivalry, their love forbidden. Worse still, Juliet’s family already expect her to marry her suitor, Count Paris.

Determined to save their love, Romeo and Juliet wed in secret. But when a fight erupts that leaves Montagues and Capulets dead, Romeo is banished from Verona, forcing Juliet to take desperate measures that spell tragedy for the star-crossed lovers.

Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s masterclass in tales of love and loss, and the origin of the lovestruck, star-crossed lovers.

Discover STAGED, a limited collection of Shakespeare’s unabridged plays that celebrates the genius of the Bard and the tropes that continue to delight YA readers to this day.

Explore the rest of the STAGED collection:
As You Like It – With a foreword by Talia Hibbert
Hamlet – With a foreword by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Macbeth – With a foreword by Kat Delacorte
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – With a foreword by Becky Albertalli
Much Ado About Nothing – With a foreword by Holly Bourne

Some appear to be written to a young man, some to a woman. And although the poems are full of mystery – why did Shakespeare write them, and to whom? – each one speaks to us from across the centuries of love, hate and the intensity of being alive.

INTRODUCED BY ANDREW McMILLAN

‘This is a crazy, all-consuming, feverish and sweaty love; love, in all its uncut, full-strength intensity; an adolescent love’ Don Paterson, Guardian