The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood [Hardcover]

Howard Pyle (Author), Stephen T. Knight (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2006

IN MERRY ENGLAND in the time of old, when good King Henry the Second ruled the land, there lived within the green glades of Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham Town, a famous outlaw whose name was Robin Hood. No archer ever lived that could speed a gray goose shaft with such skill and cunning as his, nor were there ever such yeomen as the sevenscore merry men that roamed with him through the greenwood shades.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Christopher Cazenove invests Pyle's stories with engaging voices, not just for the clever Robin and the nasty Sheriff of Nottingham, but also for minor characters such as Wat o'the Crabstaff. Cazenove keeps his voice just rough enough in singing the many ballads that punctuate the story. His narrative delivery has a gentle tone that contrasts well with the rough characters, reminding the listener that Robin Hood's story is the stuff of legend. There's lots of fighting, but the emphasis on Robin's cleverness and his code will make this production a family favorite. --AudioFile --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From the Publisher

8 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (September 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756972701
• ISBN-13: 978-0756972707
• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

151 of 156 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No Illustrations in (Most) Kindle Editions, August 3, 2009

By 

T. Simons (Columbia, SC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Kindle Edition)

It pains me that people are reading this without the illustrations. (Referring to Kindle edition).

Howard Pyle was the first person in the modern era to collect all the Robin Hood ballads that had come down from the midieval era and put them into a modern format, structured as stories and so forth. Essentially every version of Robin Hood in the past century has drawn on Howard Pyle's Robin Hood as its major source, and reading this book is the best way to understand why the minor characters in (for example) Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" are named things like "Will Scarlet" or "Much the Miller's Son."

I was given this book to read as a child, and it was and still is one of my all-time favorites (although I always avoided reading the final chapter, which Pyle even warns his readers they may want to do). The elevated, pseudo-elizabethan style even helped me later on -- when I got to Shakespeare in school, the language was easy for me, because I'd been reading Howard Pyle since I was eight.

The problem with this ebook version is that it doesn't contain the illustrations, though. And that's simply unforgivable. Howard Pyle is today better known as an illustrator than as a writer. He was the art teacher who taught people like Arthur Rackham and N.C. Wyeth. His illustrations are immensely rich and detailed, and as full of period accuracy and background research as his writing was. It's an unforgivable shame to miss them.

Versions of this book can be found online free with illustrations. Don't bother with this version, as it doesn't have them. Reading this book without the illustrations is like taking an oscar-winning film and just listening to the sound with the screen blacked out. You can do it, but why?

EDIT: There are now many Kindle versions of this book, all cross-linked so they share reviews. Currently at least, none of the free versions have illustrations; the 99-cent version marked "illustrated" does appear to have most of them, but severely cropped, without many of Pyle's marginalia and scrollwork.

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling exploits of muscle & mind in this merry classic!, December 8, 2000

By 

Godly Gadfly - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Signet classics) (Paperback)

Who hasn't heard of Robin Hood and his merry band of outlaws in Sherwood Forest? In this book you meet them all - including the powerful Little John, courageous Will Scarlet, musical Allan a Dale, and sly Friar Tuck. Howard Pyle offers what is probably the most complete and best collection of Robin Hood tales. All the old favorites are included - Little John and his quarter-staff toppling Robin into the water, Robin winning the golden arrow at Nottingham's archery contest, and the Sheriff being outsmarted in numerous attempts to capture Robin. But these are just the tip of the iceberg - this book is chock-full of entertaining merry adventures.

The medieval setting is portrayed beautifully, including the vast gulf between the upper and lower classes of society, the corruption and greed of the nobility, and the hypocrisy of the medieval Roman Catholic church where religion has degenerated to mere outward rituals. Even the language is somewhat antiquated, which initially seems tedious, but persevere because you will soon find that this an enjoyable and essential addition that heightens the heroic atmosphere of the story. But the medieval setting is not presented without a social commentary - Pyle shows that the unbalanced social structure inevitably resulted in the oppression of the poor and weak. It is left to Robin Hood and his men to take justice into their own hands, and fight nobly for the cause of the downtrodden. Such justice is accomplished in a questionable manner, because the notion of robbing the rich to help the poor implicitly endorses civil disobedience. But the more important theme of seeking justice and maintaining truth and right is in itself a noble one. With Robin Hood, we find ourselves wanting justice, and being prepared to make unselfish sacrifices in order to achieve it. When justice is done, it is actually the greed and corruption of the nobility that has led to its own destruction and ruin.

But the real attraction of this gem are the enthralling exploits of Robin Hood and his band of merry men. Howard Pyle presents Sherwood Forest as a rather glamorous utopian world where feasting and song abound, where it is never winter, and where the ale rarely runs dry. Robin Hood clearly represents a form of hedonism, and in his company there is never a lack of action, adventure, or for that matter - ale. But it's not the beer that attracts us to Robin Hood, it's rather his bravado. There is no end to the accomplishments of muscles and mind, as he and his merry band outwit all comers by sheer physical skill in archery, wrestling, swordmanship, and quarter-staff combat, or by outsmarting them with deceit and disguise. To our delight, Robin's brawn and brains always come out on top at the end.

Howard Pyle's collection of Robin Hood's merry adventures is a classic that is constantly entertaining and exciting - one that you'll want to own and read over and over!

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, just beautiful., July 12, 2004

By 

Jon - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Dover Children's Classics) (Paperback)

It pains me to read the reviews here by people who bought this book looking for the Disney fox. This is a legend, folklore, not fairy tale. It's closer to Beowulf than Beauty and the Beast. The language is fantastic, poetry! I read it first when I was very young, fourth grade maybe, but I enjoyed it then as much as I enjoy it now. The language is an obstacle for the first two pages, maybe three, but, after you acclimatize yourself to it, it creates a unique mood and atmosphere. This book is one of my all time favorites. I laughed, I cried, I wrote a review.