Bill the Bear lives with his friends in the woods and writes brilliant plays for The Glade Theatre. His latest play is a huge success, but then the problems start . . .

Parents everywhere will recognise the drama of getting an over-excited little bear off to dreamland.

A bedtime book for little bards!

Bill the Bear is a playwright. His plays are huge successes and he loves his work but he finds himself in a predicament. His brain won’t shut off and his imagination constantly churns out new stories meaning that he can’t sleep.

His frantic scribblings in the night and his nocturnal musings are disturbing the sleep of the other animals who come up with a cunning plan to make Bill go to sleep.

A Midsummer Night’s Drama is a fabulous children’s picture book that seamlessly intertwines an amazing story about Bill trying to get to sleep with the life of William Shakespeare. From Bill’s name to The Glade Theatre and the book’s clever division into acts, this story will have children learning about the Bard without them realising it.

There is a facts page at the back for children to learn more about William Shakespeare, understand his plays and sonnets, and discover the words that Shakespeare invented that are still used today.

The full-page illustrations are truly amazing and eye-popping. They are vivid and showcase the text perfectly. Overall, A Midsummer Night’s Drama is a tremendous book and one that is perfect for a bedtime story.

Louie Stowell was born in London and has lived there ever since, except for a short stint in Watford to study advertising. She’s worked as a copywriter, cartoonist, PR and in-house fiction writer, and was Publisher at Ladybird/Penguin Random House before writing full-time.

Her 2019 debut, The Dragon in the Library, was followed by The Monster in the Lake in 2020 and The Wizard in the Wood in 2021. Otherland, a standalone middle-grade novel, followed in 2021. The first book in her series, Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good, was an instant #3 Sunday Times (UK) Bestseller.