Note:

• 12 stories; namely, the stories of 12 Shakespeare plays retold for children by Nesbit
• Appropriate "particularly for very young children" --Kirkus Reviews 1938-08-01 (posted online 2012 with later cover image and ISBN) Probably Kirkus reviews a re-issue of the 1900 collection, but it does list only 11 of the 12 retellings --those in the 12-story 2006 Dover collection except "The Merchant of Venice".
• "This Dover edition, first published in 2006, is a newly reset, unabridged republication of the text from The Children's Shakespeare, originally published by Henry Altemus Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1900. The original illustrations have been omitted here." --Bibliographical Note, 2006 (viewed as Amazon "Look inside")

Synopsis: Publisher's description: 12 of the Bard's most famous plays, delightfully adapted for young readers by a noted author of children's books, are filled with stories about kings, queens, ghosts, and witches. Brimming with tragedy, humor, and moral lessons, and told with wit and grace, the tales include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, As You Like It, and 7 others.