Robin Hood Books


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Robin Hood
Robin Hood (Read & Listen Books)
Published in Paperback by DK CHILDREN (2005-04-04)
Author: Philip Neil
List price: $9.99
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Average review score:

Read About the Amazing Robin Hood
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-27
The setting and characters of Robin Hood are unforgettable. The setting of the story takes place in northern and central England. The story mostly takes place in Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood is the main character in the story. He is a nice man who cares about the poor and gives them money when he sees them. Maid Marian is Robin Hood's fiancée. Little John is a big strong man who helps Robin Hood on his journeys. Friar Tuck is one of Robin's friends. King Richard is the king of England. Sir Guy of Gisborne is one of Robin's enemies who does the sheriff's dirty work. The Sheriff of Nottingham is a cruel person who doesn't like Robin and tries to kill him when Robin turns to an outlaw.

The problem is that Robin is declared an outlaw. Worman is Robin's treacherous steward who then lies about Robin setting a plot to kill the king. At Robin's wedding the sheriff of Nottingham says that the prince has declared him an outlaw. Now Robin loses his land and title and he's living in the greenwood and can't marry Maid Marian. There are four things that Robin wants. First, he wants to marry Maid Marian. Second, he wants his title and his land back. Third, he doesn't want to be an outlaw. Finally, he wants all of the people to stop treating the peasants badly.

The solution ends up being really complex. Robin runs into the forest and puts together a group of merry men. Then he writes a letter to the sheriff to threaten him in his own castle. Then the king returns and restores everything that Robin had lost when he became an outlaw. Maid Marian and Robin get married. When King Richard dies, King John takes his place and Robin becomes an outlaw again. When Robin goes back to the greenwood he starts to fight Sir Guy and kills him. After, Robin threatens the sheriff, saying that if he will not leave the woods, he will kill him. Later, he goes to St. Mary's to confess his sins but he is betrayed and captured. When the merry men hear the news they go to the prison and free Robin.

Robin goes to the Kirklees Priory because he knows that Maid Marian and his cousin are there. His cousin lets Robin's blood and she never seals the wound because she is in the pay of the sheriff. There he dies in Maid Marian's arms.

I recommend this book for several reasons. The first reason is the pictures and the notes that Neil Phillip put in there. I also liked it because of all of the action in the book. Some other features are the diagrams of the castles and people and the CD to read along. Finally, when you listen to the CD, you can hear the sound effects of swords and the birds singing and how the voices of different people sound. This is why I recommend this book to other kids.

endless hours of entertainment for your children
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-05
My children- 3 & 5 years- love this- they can actually listen to it multiple times a day and have started acting out and reciting bits from it- so cute! We actually use the cd alone- as it's on lone from their cousin who still has the book. The reader does have an accent ( which makes it a bit more authentic) but you may have to help them identify some of the words that sound different. The language is quite sophisticated but the story keeps them enthralled. Great for rainy afternoons, or tired ones- and great for a tv alternative. We also bring our stories on cd in the car for trips or just to make the errands less painful! I highly recommend this and any of the others in the Read & Listen series.

Endless hours of reading
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-27
The book I'm going to review is Robin Hood by Neil Philip. The setting of the story is Nottingham, England. The characters are Robin Hood, Marian, Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Lord Fitzwalter and King Richard. Robin wants freedom, Marian and his title and lands back. His first big problem is the sheriff wants to kill him. So he harasses the sheriff. Robin gets 30 comrades to help him and lives in Sherwood Forest. The king comes back and gives Robin's title, lands and Marian back to him.
The new problem is King Richard is dead and Robin is now an outlaw. Robin kills Sir Guy in self-defense and tricks the sheriff and scares them away. The next problem is that Robin gets captured in St. Mary's Church and thrown in a dungeon. The solution is that Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet and Little John frees him. The last problem is Robin's cousin tricks Robin and lets his blood and never closes the cut. The resolution is he dies with peace in his heart because Robin begs Little John not to harm the nuns.
I would recommend this book to certain kinds of kids who can handle the happiness and the suffering in this book. The maps were helpful to me because they had information about where things were happening. The diagrams were helpful to me because they told about the cycle of families in the Middle Ages and what kind of jobs the kids did when they grew up.

Robin Hood
Robin Hood: A Cinematic History of the English Outlaw and His Scottish Counterparts
Published in Paperback by McFarland (2008-04-17)
Author: Scott Allen Nollen
List price: $35.00
New price: $35.00

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From literature to legend on the screen.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-06
As with his books on ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON and SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, Nollen's ROBIN HOOD: A CINEMATIC HISTORY explores the transformation of a piece of literature into a motion picture, but here the author goes back 1,000 years to provide a look at how history becomes legend becomes literature becomes drama becomes film. The author does an impressive job of following the tale of Robin Hood over a huge period of time--the work of a proper historian who also knows film like the back of his hand. First, he provides a beautifully written, novelistic history of Britain at the time of the Norman conquest, then presents his choices for the "real" Robin Hood (with convincing arguments about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce), then moves into early plays and operas, novels and finally the films, including comprehensive sections on Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn, Disney, Kevin Costner (heaven forbid!), Patrick Bergin, and the "Scottish Robin Hood" films--BRAVEHEART and ROB ROY. As always, a fabulous read with many great photos and frame enlargements. A beautifully bound hardcover book worth the price!

Several books in one
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-06-18
There are several theories and much speculation about whether there was a real Robin Hood or a combination of heroes and characters that compose Robin Hood. Understanding these theories help to understand the cinematic robin hoods.
The first half of this book is not the cinematic Robin Hood but a tight and cohesive history of great Brittan with an emphasis on the origin of the Robin Hood legends.
The second half of the book that covers the Cinema does just that. Not only does it cover the actors that play Robin, but all the people and props that go in to making the legend.
Contents tell it all:
Part I: Robin Hood in History
1. Sad Stories of the Death of Kings (1166-1276)
a. Early Outlaws of England
b. The End of Norman Rule
c. Richard the Lionheart
d. King John
e. Robert Hod, Outlaw, and Other Rebels
2. Was Robin Hood a Scot? (1066-1329)
a. The Hammer of the Scots
b. Sir William Wallace
c. Robert the Bruce, King of Scots
d. Wallace, Bruce and Robin Hood
3. English Rebels and Hoods (1322-1450)

Part II: Robin Hood in the Story and Song
4. From Minsterel's Yeoman to Playwright's Aristocrat (1400-1700)
5. Robin Returns to Scotland
a. The making of an Outlaw
6. Storybook Outlaws (1771-1900)
a. Fascination with Tradition
i. The Scottish Chiefs
ii. Rob Roy
iii. Ivanhoe

Part III: Robin Hood on the Screen
7. Shadow of Sherwood: Early Silent Films (1908-1913)
8. No Heavy Footed Englishman: Robin Hood (1922)
9. Fluent Treason: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
10. A round of Robins: Variations on a Legend (1946-1954)
11. Low-Budget Brigands: The Hammer Hoods (1957-1973)
12. The Chairman of the board as the Prince of Thieves: Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964)
13. The Revised Robin: Robin and Marian (1976)
14. Beverly Hills or Barnesdale? 91991)
15. Robin's Caledonian Renaissance (1995)
16. Wither the Greenwood?

a nice academic introduction
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-06-25
robin hood is really best appreciated viscerally, not intellectually. but this book manages to do a nice job of combining the two by analyzing the character thru his cinematic history.

delving into the fairbanks and flynn versions is to be expected, but nollen also explores the legend from viewing several other works, many of which might not be known to you. he also does a fine job of tying in the scottish counterparts (rob roy, et al) and explaining their impact on the popular conception of robin.

all in all, a fine book of film criticism, and a nice addition to the robin hood bookshelf.

Robin Hood
Rymes of Robin Hood
Published in Hardcover by William Heinemann (1976-07-12)
Authors: R.B. Dobson and John Taylor
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A classic study of Robin Hood.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-10
Here is a book that's been considered a classic in Robin Hood scholarship for over 30 years -- and deservedly so! It collects several important ballads, plays and poems. And it has a long well-written and very accessible introduction about the legend as a whole. Also, the new preface fills people in on the exciting Robin Hood scholarship of the 1980s and 1990s. Prepare to fall in love with Robin Hood all over again.

Robin Hood Through the Ages
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-13
This book offers a compilation of historical Robin Hood retellings, but also a comprehensive history of the Robin Hood legend. The introduction provides a thorough description and analysis of the genesis of the Robin Hood mystique, and then in the second and third part of the book each version is individually criticized. Rhymes, songs, prose, and theatrical versions all appear. In the last section, the authors provide a sample of other outlaw poetry, which can be compared to the Robin Hood legends. The authors have also compiles a comprehensive companion to any version of the legend, with maps of places, lists of names, and theories as to the origin of the legend.

This is an interesting and readable book. It strikes a remarkable balance between anthology and read-straight-through history book. It could certainly be read straight through, or in pieces. Even if you're not interested in wading through some of the middle English words, the analysis and introduction is indispensable to anyone interested in the Robin Hood legend, in outlaw mythology, British history, or even the history of the English language.

Wonderful Historical Overview of the Legend's Development
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-04-01
This new paperback edition of the 1976 work has twenty-eight new pages of preface and forward which detail and discuss much of the more recent Robin Hood scholarship by Stephen Knight and others. About two dozen Robin Hood ballads, plays, and poems are viewed from the perspective of two noted English historians. They do an excellent job of bringing a nice group of the early Robin Hood ballad sources to light. In addition, several later poems, a number of plays, and a few other outlaw poems find their way into the book and the discussion. The authors round out their study with four appendices, a bibliography (from 1976), an updated additional bibliography (since 1976), and an index. Overall this a very good place to start researching this celebrated English outlaw. If you get hooked, as I have, there is more than enough information contained here to lead you on as merry a chase of the elusive outlaw as you chose to take.

Robin Hood
Wild Boy: A Tale of Rowan Hood
Published in Hardcover by Philomel (2004-05-24)
Author: Nancy Springer
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Wild By: A Tale of Rowan Hood
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-25
I purchased this for my daughter; she could not put the book down. She read it straight through and then read it again in case she missed something. It was a great purchase for me.

Debateably the best in the Rowan Hood series
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-30
I have to admit, Wild Boy is rather predictable. It's also a little bloodier and with weightier issues (such as violence, loss and bereavement) than I would have thought suitable in a book recommended for kids as young as 9. (But then again, 'Old Yeller' is deemed suitable as a kids' book, and kids seem to handle it okay, so what do I know?) It also has a few too many long and florid descriptions of forest flora in it. However, those things aside, it's actually quite a decent book, and in my opinion much better than its two predecessors. It has a lot of action, and moves along at quite a quick pace, which helps to keep the reader interested. Plus, it is very emotive, drawing the reader in and making them feel strongly for the plight of the characters.

This book deals very well with serious issues such as loss of a parent, child abuse, relationships between family and friends, alienation, and belonging to a peer group. I think kids will really learn something from it. But even if they don't give a fig about the morals of the story, they're probably still going to like the drama and action aspects!

I would recommend this book, although mainly to kids aged 10 or 11 and up. Fans of the Rowan Hood series will not be disappointed with it.

you should read this...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-02
I read this book. it's not as good as the first but you learn alot about rook. it a book you must read to read the series.

Robin Hood
Coast to Coast , 2nd: St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay (Trailblazer British Walking Guide)
Published in Paperback by Trailblazer Publications (2006-09-01)
Author: Henry Stedman
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coast to coast path - a great guide!!
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-18
if you can afford only one book, this is the one to buy. we are getting ready to hike the coast 2 coast and, of the three we have purchased, this guide is the most helpful. it is full of detailed, practical info. maps are visually very clear, and written directions are specific. info on planning, budgeting, distance/time itineraries, what to take, getting to and from the coast 2 coast path - all are very useful. websites that are included are current and informative. henry stedman has done an excellent job of providing the info we need!!! five stars!!!

Avoid getting lost on the C to C
Helpful Votes: 24 out of 24 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-04
If you're planning to walk the Coast to Coast, you'll want to buy this book. I walked the C to C in June 2004, using both the Hannon guidebook and Stedman. What's great about Stedman is the detail on his hand-drawn maps at tricky points on the trail. He shows you cattle grids, stiles, old fence posts and other markers, including paths NOT to take, and I often found the detail kept me from heading off on the wrong track. You can't find that level of helpfulness on the traditional strip maps that cover the C to C.
Also useful are Stedman's reviews of places to stay and eat on the path, and where to find things like ATM machines (the last one is in Richmond!). If you're thinking about walking the Coast to Coast, Stedman should definitely be in your mapcase.
That said, you wouldn't want this book to be your only guide. The maps extend only a few hundred feet either side of the path, so if you do get lost, this book won't help you figure out where you are. For that, you need OS Landranger maps. And the Hannon guidebook gives more general directions than Stedman. I found the two quite compatible, and used them both, Hannon to get me to the right area, and Stedman to negotiate the confusing parts.
Because Stedman's book is the most recent of the C to C guides, his information about what's happening in the villages and hamlets is current and quite useful.

Robin Hood
A Northern Coast to Coast Walk: From St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay (Skills for Success Series)
Published in Paperback by Cicerone Press (2006-11-30)
Author: Terry Marsh
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Coast2coast
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-20
Excellent booklet/guide for those who are planning to do the Coast2Coast walk! Clear description and maps.

Great!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-06
This is a perfect book for ANYONE considering this trek. It has it all, including contact numbers and addresses.

Robin Hood
Robin and the King: A Novel
Published in Hardcover by William Morrow & Co (1993-06)
Author: Parke Godwin
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a great sequel
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-15
Robin and the King tells of life after Sherwood. It's great. Taking place during the early days of Normans, Robin is a political prisoner assigned to Prince William, or Rossel as he is called throughout the book. Robin helps win the war, but life doesn't go the way he would want. A Great Read.

For everyone who likes good historical fiction
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-10-23
In his duology, consisting of 'Sherwood' and 'Robin and the King', Parke Godwin gives us a whole new Robin Hood. A man who, in this second book, initiates the charter which would result in Magna Carta some 150 years later. Unlike other Robin Hood novels, these are set in the period just after William the Conqueror's invasion of England. This Edward of Denby, nicknamed Robin Hood, could very well have been the predecessor of the other(s?) by this (nick)name. Self-proclaimed "conscience" to William the Conqueror, Robin finds himself banned to Normandy and fighting in the war between William and his opponent, the French king. A good, solid historical novel. Fascinating and true to life. Looking for fantasy? Look elsewhere. Looking for good historical fiction? This is it! Not just for Robin Hood fans.

Robin Hood
Rowan Hood Returns (Rowan Hood)
Published in Hardcover by Philomel (2005-06-16)
Author: Nancy Springer
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A Satisfying Conclusion ot the Rowan Hood Series
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-09
There is just a bit of sadness in reading Rowan Hood Returns as it brings to conclusion a simple but charming series featuring Rowan Hood of the Rowan Wood (daughter of Robin Hood). Both my daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed this series (and read through it quite quickly). We enjoyed reading each book in turn, learning a bit more about each member of her band of outlaws and their exploits. In this final book, we return (having come full circle once again) to Rowan, formerly Rosemary (she changed her name when her mother was murdered and she set out to find her father, the infamous outlaw Robin Hood). As we join the merry band once again, Princess Etty returns having learned the name of the killers of Rowan's mother. Having already sensed that "something" was about to happen, Rowan's heart fills with anger and rage and she vows (once again) to avenge her mothers' death. The band sets out...because none will allow the still injured Rowan (injury occurred in the first book) to make the journey herself. For all the action of this book, the true conflict is mainly internal. Rowan must explore within herself the conflicting emotions...she is a healer, the daughter of a woodwife, yet her gifts have all but fled as anger filled her and as she journey's forward, she seems hindered at every step. Her legs betray her, she can hardly walk, the trees and vines practically assault her...as if they do not want her to go and in her own heart she is conflicted between waiting to help and heal people and an overwhelming desire to put an end to the men who heartlessly killed her mother. How will it all end and will she ever find peace again if she takes the life of another in anger? Young readers will delight in discovering how all the details come together in the end.

This last book is perhaps, contains the most twists of plot yet. There are two levels to the story, the first being the actual physical conflict and second being the emotional turmoil that Rowan experiences as the journey progresses. As with the other stories in this series, there is graphic detail about the cruelties of the age this book is set. Women are largely treated as property (as evidenced by Etty's description of the Knights advances toward her), peasants are made into outlaws often for the slightest "offences," winters and life are harsh and food is hard to come by. I think Springer did a wonderful job of depicting age appropriate material that gives young readers a realistic look at what life would have been like in this period for all classes, while maintaining a focus on the lower classes. I would definitely recommend this, and I give it four stars...I won't call it "fun" because there is a lot of tragedy and hardship...but it's definitely interesting and provides a window of insight into life in another time. I think readers aged 9-12 would most benefit from reading this, given the amount "mature" material that is covered in this book, and the series as a whole (murder, maiming by "man traps" - a punishment against poachers, threat of death, and so on). Rowan Hood Returns is a bit of a melancholy tale with a mostly happy ending that I think will charm many readers.

THE BEST BOOK EVER!!!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-01-11
This is truthfully one of the best books I have EVER read, next to Midnight for Charlie Bone (Jenny Nimmo), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling), Molly Moon's Hypnotic Time Travel Adventure (Georgia Byng), Lionboy: The Chase (Zizou Corder), and Charmed Life (Diana Wynne Jones). Maybe it's even better than those. It is about a fifteen year old girl who you will be familiar with if you have read the last four Rowan Hood books (Rowan Hood, Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest; Lionclaw; Outlaw Princess of Sherwood; and Wild Boy.) Her real name is Rosemary, but she changed it to Rowan when she became an outlaw and met her real father, Robin Hood. Why did she do this? Her mother was horribly killed by people who Rowan does not know of. In a previous book, Rowan's legs were broken and weakened by a horrible invention of yeomanly England called a man-trap. In a different book, Ettarde, the princess of Sherwood, goes home with her mother. However, at the beginning of this book she returns with the news that she has found the names of those who killed Rowan's mother, Celandine, of Celandine's Wood. Rowan, in the other books, is gentle and kind, with a bow and arrows made of aelfin flint (she is part aelfin.) She also has the aelfin powers of healing, sensing her father, Robin hood, and speaking to the Rowan trees and the rocks and the springs. But when Etty returns with this news, Rowan's powers disappear and her legs grow weaker than they were (which is fairly weak.) She can no longer walk, but her fury rages on. She commands her cohorts, Lionel, Ettarde, Rook, and Beau to go to Celandine's wood and find the four men who Ettarde has named: Guy Longehad. Jasper of the Sinister Hand. Hurst Orricson. Holt, also Orricson, brother of Hurst. As Rowan can no longer walk, she rides Beau's white horse, Dove, who they die black and then yellow for the long journey to Celandine's wook. Rowan's faithful wolf-dog, Tykell, also comes along. The outlaws have a difficult journey with little food and shelter- and many dangers. When Rowan finally finds the men who killed her mother- well, you'll have to read the book. But I really wish Nancy Springer would write more Rowan Hood books. It is really unfair that this one is the "Final Chapter." She hasn't even written one about Beau.

Robin Hood
Lady Of The Forest
Published in Paperback by Kensington (2000-08-01)
Author: Jennifer Roberson
List price: $14.95
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Average review score:

this books rocks!!!!!!!!!!1111
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-22
this book was one of the best books i have ever read. I just cant seem to put it down. I cant wait to read the sequel.

Beautiful Writing Syle, good story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-05
This is my first book by Jennifer Roberson. Her writing style is unique and beautiful. The characters and surroundings are described vividly. The love between Robin and Marian is gradually built up, and the reader can feel the love and passion between them. The characters are well developed and their stories intertwine interestingly. The diagloue between the characters was also natural. I was sometimes frustrated by SO many descriptions because sometimes it got confusing and overwhelming. Also, the author sort of just jumps into the storyline and the reader just needs to get up and go with it. Once I got used to the style of her writing and felt like I understood what was going on I enjoyed it much more and found it easier to read. This is the first book of a two part series. I plan on reading the second book.

Loved Every Minute of It!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-14
I have never tried to understand my fascination with the tales of Robin Hood. I have loved the films for many years and had expected to be content with what lay before me. It wasn't until one day I happened upon a copy of the Lady of Sherwood that I was shown something even better. I read the index and was so excited to hear of another retelling of Robin Hood. I grabbed a copy of the Lady of the Forest and the Lady of Sherwood and headed home. I read them in order and stayed up the entire night reading the Lady of the Forest. I couldn't put the book down! When the sun started rising and I still hadn't gotten a moment of sleep I knew that I was hooked for good!
This book is such a rich retelling of the tales of Robin Hood that I haven't yet been able to find another that can match it. The books included all of my favorite characters from the films and more. There is a new side to Marian and Robin that is most facinating. Marian isn't just a whimsical lady of great beauty and Robin isn't a perfected charmer of grace and strife. Each character is brought to life with each page that will draw you back a few centuries deep into the forests of Sherwood. I would recommend this book for anyone who has dreamed and let their imagination turn to a forest in England where adventures await.

A bit of a darker version of the Robin Hood legends 3.5 stars
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-11
First off, WTH is the publisher thinking re-releasing this book with a Fabio type of cover? Any sex that happens in this book is left wholly to the reader's imagination - this is not a bodice ripping romance. That said, in retelling the standard Robin Hood story, the author took an interesting tact and cast him as tortured from his experiences in the violence of the Crusades, sort of a medieval post traumatic stress disorder. Of course, sparks fly when he meets Marian, who the most evil Sheriff of Nottingham also desires.

No big surprises, and the usual suspects and characters as we're used to in the Robin Hood legends. I have to agree with a couple of other reviewers who found the author's constantly changing viewpoints in every chapter distracting, as it did affect the flow of the story line. I also agree with another reviewer who found Marian having to constantly pick up her kirtle when they were walking through the forest and Robin's always raising his loquacious eyebrows got to be a bit old after a while. Where was the editor? And what was with a knight who served alongside Richard The Lionheart doing having to have Marion jump in and save him again and again? Also, the darker tone the author took with Robin's experiences in the Crusades affected his way with the "merry men" who weren't quite as merry as you see in other versions of this legend.

All in all with those minor quibbles aside an entertaining, interesting read. I had a hard time putting it down until the end, but not one I'll keep on my bookshelf to read again and again, nor is it a book that will stick with me long after I've returned it to the library. Side note, a very entertaining trilogy loosely based on the Robin Hood legends by Marsha Canham is worth looking into. Although much more romance oriented, the author's tongue is firmly planted in her cheek throughout the series and is great fun. Through a Dark Mist, In the Shadow of Midnight and The Last Arrow.

Very good with just a couple quibbles
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-15
I liked both this book and the sequel, "Lady of Sherwood". I read both when they first came out and have recently re-read them and still enjoyed them. Marian is believable as the docile woman of the times growing into something more, and realizing that if she can stand to pay the consequences, she can be who she wishes to be rather than who she is expected to be. What more could one ask for? Robin is convincing as a sensitive man traumatized by war. I do wish some of his history could have been more fully realized. We are only allowed disjointed glances that don't really convey the depth or development of his friendship with King Richard, or the alien-ness of being a captive of the Saracens. They are experiences that have apparently changed him profoundly in some respects, but we are unfortunately not allowed to share them with him. One thing Ms Robinson does - more in the first book than the second - that drives me nuts is that she doesn't write in "scenes". She will, for example, have Robin confronting the Earl at the same time Marian is confronting the Sheriff and skips back and forth between the two confrontations as if trying to convey "real time" actions, instead of letting first one confrontation occur and build to a conclusion, and then switching to the other and letting that one do the same. This makes for very disjointed writing, and if you have to put the book down, you lose the tension of the situation and it's hard to keep track of who is doing what. It makes me want to grab the scissors and "cut and paste" the book into the proper order! Also, in every major fight in the first book, Robin loses. Little John beats him at the log bridge, Marian has to step in against the Sheriff...how did this guy ever survive the Crusade if he's that inept of a fighter? Thank goodness he won at archery! The book is also decribed as taking place in early spring (Richard finally came back to England in March of 1194), but she describes Sherwood Forest as dark, green, and leafy. I don't think a hardwood forest in England in March is any of those things, even if it is the primeval Sherwood. Those things aside, it's a good retelling, and far more believable than the obviously heroic, always clean portrayal of the 1938 movie (although I adore that movie), the sterilized belligerance and brutality of the original tales, or the more often lame than not "Prince of Thieves".

Robin Hood
Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Published in Unknown Binding by Grosset & Dunlap (1965-06-01)
Authors: Howard Pyle and Lawrence B. Smith
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Average review score:

A Merry Good Read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-31
Being a fan of adventure fiction, I could not ignore this truly vintage tale. This is the story of many of the adventures of Robin Hood and his merry men. I must say, as usual, the movies can't hold a candle to the book. Hollywood has also chosen to ignore Robin Hood's attitude toward the church and clergy, which were important issues in his day. Written in the 18th century, it takes a little getting used to the language, but it quickly becomes part of the ambience as Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, and the scores of merry men began to charm me.

Like all good storytellers, Pyle pulls us in with glamour first, making us fall for Robin Hood and his good, stout yeomen for their light spirits and good deeds, before showing us their darker side, taking us along while they rob the rich, after first seducing us with the laughter and free-flowing ale after the fact. The story reads like a fairy tale, with Robin Hood and the merry men doing a lot of lying around in the grass waxing merry when they aren't feasting and sucking down mass quantities of ale and good, stout March beer. Of course, given the times, everyone drank beer, ale, or wine nearly all the time. Why not? They walked everywhere.

Naturally, Hollywood has also played up the romance angle between Robin Hood and Maid Marian, but in this book, Robin's lady love gets barely a mention. Females aren't totally left out, Queen Eleanor being an especially engaging character, but mostly these are stories of battles and games of skill played out by men, done with good humor that even had me laughing out loud.

This book has stood the test of time and deserves respect for that, but it is also engaging even today. It was easy to transport myself to the English woods of the thirteenth century when life was simple and one could avoid the law simply by changing his clothes and adopting an alias. With some enigmatic actors and a script that stayed true to the book, this would make a wonderful movie to outshine all those other namby-pamby Robin Hoods. It would be fun to see these stories on the big screen with some quality talent. I guess, though, I will have to be content, as others have for centuries, with my imagination to see the vivid characters in this wonderful book in action.

Free SF Reader
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-03
Howard Pyle has put together a bunch of Robin Hood tales, legends and songs, and turned it into a book that is basically aimed at young readers. It is certainly enjoyable, and plenty of people should enjoy Robin Hood and his Merry Men running around in the forest causing trouble for those Sheriff types and others. Definitely fun.




timeless fun for the kids and adult kids
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-30
This is a fine retelling of the Robin Hood story, with all the familar characters (Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet and the rest, minus Maid Marion). Pyle has done a great job of bringing together the many legends and writing a coherent tale with language that speaks to the old period, but is easily understandable by modern readers. Kids, and adults letting themselves be kids for a while, will enjoy Robin's bold adventures and narrow escapes, the triumph of good over evil (most of the time), and the happy flouting of authority. Adults may want to read these stories with younger kids, explaining what conditions were in those days. Without this, young readers may be puzzled why Robin was constantly stealing from, and harassing, the priests and authorities of the day. Discussion will prevent young readers from taking away the wrong message. Pyle gives some discussion, but perhaps not enough, to justify Robin's behavior.

Robin Hood is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-22
Robin Hood is an adventurous, quick-acting book which changes emotions really quickly. Robin Hood is an archer who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. The Sheriff of Nottingham, along with Prince John, is plotting to take Robin Hood to jail and steal all of his money. Then there's Robin Hood's girlfriend, Maid Maiden, who loves Robin Hood and wants to marry him.
I think it was a great book. The moral it shows you is never brag about yourself - there may be someone better than you. I recommend this book for the Knights of the Round Table and everybody who wants a quick-witted adventure.
By Connor

A rolicking adventure for child and adult alike
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-25
Pyle's Robin Hood is a lovable soul, with a child's simplicity and a man's heart. The scenes are vivid, the characters lively, and the tales timeless. It's not Crime and Punishment, but it was never meant to be. Read Pyle's introductory warning, and decide for yourself if you will join him in his wandering through Sherwood Forest.


Books-Under-Review-->Arts-->Humanities-->Literature in Art-->Robin Hood-->6
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