My 4-year-old has way too much faith in the postal service

This post originally appeared on my other blog, Cozy Little Book Journal.

Today was Shakespeare's birthday and Magda decided to celebrate--because she knows I like Shakespeare (sort of) and she considers herself an expert on birthdays, having had four of them already--by making him a nice card. It started out well, with her disappearing to her art table with all of her crayons and a large piece of paper.

Then she asked me for an envelope and stamps. Wait a minute.

I was like, "Honey, where is it you think you're sending it?" And she was like, "To Shakespeare. It's his birthday, Mommy." (Duh.)

Me--Okay, but you know he's dead, right? He was born 450 years ago and he died 398 years ago. Remember we learned that he died on his own birthday? So he's definitely dead.

Magda--I know that, Mommy. He died on his birthday. But on his actual birthday, like when he was born, he wasn't dead yet. He was only a baby. I'm sending the card to Baby Shakespeare.

I admit I didn't have an answer for that. I felt kind of like Allie Brosh when she found a letter she had written as a child to her future self, asking her future self to please write back.

In the end I told Magda we'd comprise and send it "to the internet" instead. Here's what she made:

The red things are presents. I asked Magda what was in them and she said, "I don't know. He hasn't opened them yet." Honestly, I think sometimes she must be frustrated by my inability to get things.

That's Shakespeare on the left, wearing a ruff. Magda told me that the person on the right is someone wearing a party hat and preparing to blow out the candles on Shakespeare's birthday cake before he gets a chance to, which Magda explained was "very aggrevating." Note that the only other person at Shakespeare's birthday party is someone specifically trying to piss him off.

Then again, he did die on his birthday, so it's not like this is the worst thing that ever happened to him at a birthday party.

Happy Birthday, Baby Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare's Star Wars, by Ian Doescher (illustrated by Nicolas Delort)

William Shakespeare's Star Wars:
Verily. A New Hope
Author: Ian Doescher
Illustrator: Nicolas Delort
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication Date: July 2, 2013
Source: Edelweiss
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It's essentially the script of Star Wars arranged to look like a play, with a few "verilys" and "thous" thrown in. It's cute, but it's exactly what you'd expect it to be with few surprises. Mostly it would make a funny gift for someone. Of course if you do happen to know someone who loves Shakespeare and Star Wars in equal measure, and they've literally got everything else they could possibly need, then you should definitely buy this for them.

Congratulations to our contest winner!!

Congratulations to the winner of Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard, by Laura Bates!

And the winner is...

Entry #258: Monica

Thank-you so much to everyone who entered and everyone who left such wonderful comments on my blogs. And don't worry--you can still pick up a copy of the book on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or BN.com!

And keep checking Cozy Little Book Journal for more upcoming giveaways!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY: Shakespeare Saved My Life, by Laura Bates

Recently I reviewed the book, Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard, A Memoir by Laura Bates. Dr. Laura Bates is an English professor at Indiana State University who has been teaching Shakespeare in prison facilities, including solitary confinement, for many years. The book is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it, particularly if you read a lot of Shakespeare. Some of the prisoners' interpretations of the play are sure to have you re-thinking how you've been reading Shakespeare all these years!

As you may know, April is not only National Poetry Month (at least in Canada), it's also the month in which Shakespeare was born AND died. His birthday AND the anniversary of his death is April 23 (he died on his birthday, y'all...bummer). In honour of Shakespeare's birthday (and to, you know, promote this book) the publisher is sponsoring a GIVEAWAY on my blog! YAY!

If you live in Canada or the United States, you can enter to win one (1) copy of Shakespeare Saved My Life, by Laura Bates, sent to you directly by Sourcebooks (again, YAY!). The contest ends on April 30, 2013. The winner will be announced on May 1, 2013. All you have to do is use the Rafflecopter widget below. 

Oh, and don't forget to keep reading for an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LAURA BATES!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard, by Laura Bates

Shakespeare Saved My Life: 

Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard

Author: Laura Bates

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Publication Date: April 1, 2013

Buy Now on Amazon.com

Buy Now on Amazon.ca

My first reaction when I saw this book was, "Great, EVERYONE is reading Shakespeare before I do. Even people in solitary confinement!" I'd recently decided to read all of Shakespeare's plays in a year and I was finding it slow going. But the prisoners that Laura Bates described in this book seemed to breeze through the plays, even if they had limited education and no previous knowledge of the bard. If they could do it, what the hell was my excuse?

Once I got past my petty jealousy, this book spoke to me on a lot of levels. Laura Bates is an English professor who has been teaching Shakespeare for years, both in colleges and in prisons. This book recounts her experiences with the latter, particularly in a supermax--or solitary confinement--unit. A great number of my family members work in corrections, including in prisons, and I myself had helped start a writing and spoken word program at a women's prison here in Nova Scotia. So I didn't need to be convinced of the value of prisoner education. And, as I mentioned, I'd recently started a Shakespeare in a Year project in which I was attempting to read the Complete Works of Shakespeare (or at the very least the plays) before the end of the year. So I didn't need to be convinced of the value of Shakespeare.

Still, this book surprised me in a lot of ways. 

The thing that struck me most about Laura Bates' experiences teaching Shakespeare in prison was the way the inmates interpreted certain passages. Dr. Bates deliberately chose plays she thought might speak to them, plays about crime (Macbeth) or imprisonment (Richard III) or loss of power (King Lear) or violence and revenge (Titus Andronicus).  Even so, the inmates' reactions to them often changed the way I myself was reading the material. 

As an example, when discussing the murder of King Duncan in Macbeth, one part that often stumps literary critics is why Macbeth is able to kill Duncan but cannot seem to complete the plan by planting the bloody daggers on the sleeping guards, implicating them. He balks at this and wanders off, forcing Lady Macbeth to complete the task. Why? I, like many critics, interpreted Macbeth's actions as evidence of doubt, of lack of conviction to the plan. Lady Macbeth, by contrast, seems like the pushier of the two in this scene ("Fine! I have to do everything myself, do I?"). 

But the inmates had a different interpretation:

"'He needs for her to get her hands dirty too', said the new student in the group named Bentley...When Bentley made the observation about Macbeth's need for a partner in crime, the others, all serving time for murder convictions, agreed. It is easier to bear the burden of guilt, especially of such a heavy crime, my students said, with an accomplice.

Genius. 

Shakespeare on Toast: Getting a Taste for the Bard, by Ben Crystal

Shakespeare on Toast:

Getting a Taste for the Bard

Author: Ben Crystal

Publisher: Icon Books

Publication Date: September 11, 2012

Buy Now on Amazon.com (Kindle)

Buy Now on Amazon.ca (Paperback/Audio)

FUN! That's the best way to describe the experience of reading Ben Crystal's Shakespeare on Toast. The author's goal was to make Shakespeare more accessible to readers of all ages who may be reluctant to take on the bard. I'm sure there are a million other books with that goal in mind and I'm certainly not able to provide a comparison of all the other books on the subject, nor can I say which ones I would or would not recommend. What I can say is that I would definitely recommend this one. The only thing that kept me from reading it all in one sitting is that I kept getting up to share what I'd learned with my partner (who is a secondary school English and history teacher and was eager to listen to all of my interruptions...thanks Mike!).

I'm actually planning to start a new project next year called "Shakespeare in a Year" in which I attempt to read all of Shakespeare's plays in a year (or at least before I'm forty, which is more than a year but less than five). I've been rather intimidated by the entire prospect and have been avoiding it at every turn. But this book actually helped. I think I can do it now!

Hit the jump to read some to the cool facts I learned!