Shakespeare's plays are frequently performed throughout the world, and many were adapted into movies. Each summer, a Shakespeare play is performed on Boston Common for free. In New York City, a similar annual summer Shakespeare performance happens in Central Park.

You can visit Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, and also on line with a virtual tour. While in England, why not pop over to Stratford-upon-Avon to visit the homes associated with Shakespeare and his family?

In addition to his 37-40 plays (there's debate about how many he actually wrote), Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, a type of poem made up of 14 lines and a specific rhyme scheme. These poems have given us many of his most famous lines, like "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" from Sonnet 18. Shakespeare's poems are so famous that his is often referred to by the nickname, 'The Bard,' because the word 'bard' means poet.

To learn more about Shakespeare, his poems, and his plays, you can watch the Brainpop in him, as well as read the many books written about him. I recommend reading Who Was William Shakespeare? by Celeste Mannis, and Magic Tree House Stage Fright on a Summer Night by Mary Pope Osborne, which was turned into a hip-hop musical titled Showtime with Shakespeare.

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