The Story of Robin Hood (Picture Books)

I have been reading and then distilling Howard Pyle's classic adventures of Robin Hood into versions appropriate for my nearly 6-year-old, who is mesmerized by the stories. I hoped that this book could help capture some of that wonder with a text that she could read along with me. As other reviewers have mentioned, this beautifully illustrated and bound version is lovely to hold and behold. Unfortunately, the story itself is a thin retelling of the adventures from the point of view of a young boy whose father is imprisoned by the Sheriff of Nottingham and then rescued -- not really by Robin Hood at all, but by the boy himself after he has trained for an illogically short time with Robin and his merry band of self-esteem builders, and then by a rex ex machina. None of the elements are out of line with the original tales, but the effort to put the adventure into the perspective of the boy narrator means that much about the world of Robin Hood is thinly referenced, rather than richly evoked. It might be a good introduction to the legends for a child who has never before heard the tales, with two caveats: one, a child who has no idea who Robin Hood and King Richard are will probably not find the answers here, and two, once he or she does have an introduction to those two figures in the context of a more fully realized tale, this story will probably not satisfy.

This is not the traditional story if Robin Hood, HOWEVER, if you are looking to introduce the character to your very young children, this is a great start! The story isn't long and is very captivating from a child's perspective, great starter!

This Illustrated Robin Hood is a great first book to begin learning about the tales of the ever fascinating Robin Hood. The book is sturdy, the cover is a strong padded plastic, and I loved the way the book felt when I held it. The illustrations are lovely and full of action, and the stories are fun and interesting but not too wordy. Although the Illustrated Robin Hood is for a bit older children, I purchased this book as a birthday present for my nephew who just turned three. His parents are scholars and my nephew, who was born and lives in Germany, is fluent in three languages. I think that this book will be perfect for him.

Based on previous reviews, I ordered this book for my 5 year old boy who has an interest in Robin Hood. We have watched the Disney animated classic and have "seen" Robin running around at Renaissance Fairs so I tried this book hoping for something for his age. Which it is. BUT I found the pictures as amateur watercolors and bad fonts create an overall cheap looking book. The small story itself about Robin rescuing a boy's father was fine in itself but I know there is better out there. Try Robin Hood and The Golden Arrow for starters with a nice tale and beautiful pictures. But no magic here.

My grandson loved this book.

Purchased this book to read to my 5 year old son. He was really interested, and asked lots of questions! The illustrations were very helpful in helping him to comprehend the story.

This version of the Robin Hood story tells two adventurous tales and gives some historical context to the legends and facts surrounding Robin Hood.The first tale is a pretty standard retelling of the most popular bits people know about Robin Hood. Robin robs from the rich to give to the poor who are being overtaxed by the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff lays a trap for Robin in the form of a contest. Robin competes in disguise and wins the contest by splitting a bull's eye arrow. The reward for winning the contest is a job--protector of the Sheriff's treasury. After all the greatest warrior in the land should be able to keep Robin's hands off it, right? There are some nice twists and turns at this point that made it more interesting to a veteran of Robin Hood tales like me. Jacob and Lucy loved the story.The second tale is about Much Middleton, teenage son of the village miller. One day the Sheriff comes to collect taxes and a riot breaks out. Much's dad is captured and sent to the dungeon. Much escapes and finds Robin in Sherwood Forest, sure that he will help. Robin doesn't immediately act, other than bringing Much into his band and training him for the eventual conflict at the end of the tale. This was a new story to me and has that "kid gets to work with his hero" plot that engages readers well.The final part of the book discusses life in the middle ages and the possible origins of Robin Hood. The original stories about him are from the 1200s and 1300s, with the first written reference in Piers Plowman. The stories spread all over England and many of them have conflicting details, e.g. some say he was once a wealthy lord while others claim he was a poor villager. The lives of the rich, the poor, and the outlaws are all described. The discussion around outlaws caused a tricky conversation with my children--trying to explain that most outlaws were evil men and Robin Hood was a very rare exception proved more difficult than I imagined.The illustrations by Alan Marks are nice but not great. They suggest swashbuckling and the distant past but don't quite hit the mark. It doesn't detract from the text but doesn't provide a great enhancement either.Overall, this is a fine introduction for children to Robin Hood.

My five year old son loves to have this book read to him. It's told from the perspective of 10 year old Much Middleton whose character is craftily woven into the classic story. I was afraid it would contain the debauchery and violence I'd come to see in the adult-themed Robin Hood movies, but it really had little of that (the Sheriff burns down the town buildings and there are allusions to sword fighting). It had enough illustrations to satisfy my son, and it was just long enough to read aloud at night.

Os livros da Usborne são ótimos.

Great for world book day

Used with the children in my class, they really enjoyed the story

This book is for my 5 year old grandson as a Christmas present. He loves the stories of Robin Hood and as he is an avid reader I thought this book ideal for him. It covered the traditional story but in large enough type for him to read and enjoy.

Have bought a selection of these books for my 7 year old son, who although a reasonably capable reader finds books without pictures and too much writing uninspiring. Having thoroughly enjoyed The Railway Children and Oliver Twist in the same series he found Robin Hood rather dull and it didn't grab him in the same way at all. The text was unexciting and the story was retold in a very banal way which did not spark off his imagination as I had hoped. Probably not one of the best in this series.