William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice

Though the basic plot of the play is good overall, I would not recommend this play for reading aloud to children. At the least, a person should be thirteen before reading the play. It would be worth discussing the fact that Shylock is somewhat of a victim after reading the play. It would also be good to point out that none of the main characters are perfect by the standards of Shakespeare's time. If you look closely, you can see that Antonio is gay and is in love with Bassanio. Bassanio is a prodigal who put his friend at the mercy of a moneylender rather than borrow the money himself. All three female characters have at least one scene where they appear dressed as the opposite sex.