"The brief historical note on the title page sets up the drama for this picture-book story for older children. In Shakespeare's time, girls and women were not allowed to act in the theater, so men's parts were played by young boys before their voices broke. Sam finds work in the famous Globe Theatre, where he starts off playing small parts, such as a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Finally, after being trained by kindly, idyllic Shakespeare, he is cast as Juliet, and the audience loves him: 'They sighed when Juliet fell in love with Romeo. They cheered when she disobeyed her father and married him. They sobbed when....' Clear, brilliantly colored ink-and-gouache illustrations show the stage performances and the active audience as well as the backstage goings-on and a glowing view of the theater on the Thames."—Booklist