Customer Reviews

Robin Hood (Usborne Young Reading Series Two)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Usborne Young Reading Series Two contains wonderful readers for established readers who are trying to transition to more challenging chapter books, but still love the colors and images of picture books. It retells the classic tale of Robin Hood in about 60 pages -- EVERY page is illustrated! Also, it contains a built-in bookmark to make it easy to mark your spot. My first grader loves the Usborne Reading Series Two and has thoroughly enjoyed "Robin Hood."

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 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.

I bought this beautiful book for my son, who is reading on a first grade level. It's hardcover, beautiful illustrations, and ribbon book mark made him feel very special. It's a real keepsake book. I listened outside his door as he read it by flashlight. Now all he wants is more!

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.

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.

For some reason, my 4 year old daughter started asking me for stories about Robin Hood. After a week of dishing out poorly remembered bits of Prince of Thieves (with some Men in Tights thrown in) I knew I had to get some professional help. This book delivered. She loves it! We've read parts of it every night for weeks and she even keeps it under her pillow while she sleeps. I enjoyed it the first few times, but now I'm sick to death of it...

My five year old and three year old are learning about the Medieval time period. To help them learn, I purchased this book and was hoping to introduce them to some famous characters from that time. They thoroughly enjoyed it. The book isn't too long so and is written well to keep their attention. This is a great 1st book for those wanting to read about Robin Hood.