For me, the question is never “why Shakespeare?” Never “why do we insist on doing this?” Instead, I ask, “why not Shakespeare?” Why deprive ourselves of this most unique experience?

Charlotte Mason believed that children should read aloud every day, and that those readings “should include a good deal of poetry, to accustom him to the delicate rendering of shades of meaning, and especially to make him aware that words are beautiful in themselves, that they are a source of pleasure, and are worthy of our honour …