It may be odd- but it is also common

In response to "an odd finding": I can't really speak for other countries, but I know that here in America you can find no end of both script and story interpretations of Shakespeare's works like this one you've displayed. Such an enormous precedent, I think, argues both for and against the need for this particular edition. My reaction to it, however, is much more mixed than yours is. I have to say that I personally have a wealth of "children's interpretations" of most of Shakespeare's plays- and they are quite exquisite. Skillfully broken down into the most basic plot and supplemented with funny or stunning illustrations, some of these shortened versions of his works really impress me. It seems to me that it is unfair to be overly critical of any attempts to make Shakespeare more accessible to the general American public. I am an obsessive text nerd- someone who lives by the first folio, and  worships the words (probably to a fault), so I completely understand the desire to approach Shakespeare with a belief in the sacred, untouchable nature of his writing. However, as a Shakespeare supporter, how can I not believe in something that can assist people's understanding of his plays? Were it not for these "Shakespeare for Dummies" versions, I may never have known Shakespeare at all because it was reading these versions as a child that gave me the basis for the love and knowledge of the "original" versions that I possess today. And what's more, the ongoing debate of authorship along with his universalized adoration these days, argues to me that we have every right to reduce, rewrite and recreate Shakespeare's plays according to our over-changing modern world. If books like these are the best or only- or even just one- way to reach a larger audience, then I have to consider supporting it! The trouble comes in when you create something like this as a supplement or introduction, but it becomes used as a substitute (i.e. CliffsNotes and SparkNotes, which are so often used to get out of school reading assignments). But I truly believe that the risk of that is worth the pay-off of getting even one more person to overcome intimidation or boredom and begin to love and know Shakespeare the way all of us do.