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    Robin Hood
    Robin Hood
    Robin Hood
    Audiobook15 minutes

    Robin Hood

    Written by Howard Pyle

    Narrated by Robert Rance

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    King Richard is away, and Prince John has stolen his throne! Prince John has set high taxes on the people of Sherwood Forest and many cannot pay. But they have a hero among them who steals from the rich to help the poor.

    Will Robin Hood and his merry men save the kingdom for King Richard?

    Find out in this stunning graphic novel adaptation of Howard Pyle's classic by Joe Dunn Creator biographies and a glossary help reluctant readers take the first step on the road to classic literature.

    An Abdo Publishing Group audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAbdo Publishing Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2008
    ISBN9781629689449
    Robin Hood
    Author

    Howard Pyle

    During what has come to be known as the golden age of illustration, Howard Pyle was America's foremost artist/illustrator. Born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1853, he developed his talents at a precociously early age. His specialty was the illustration of historical adventure stories, working for important periodicals such as Harper's Magazine and St. Nicholas. Very seldom does it happen that an excellent illustrator is also an excellent writer (or vice versa), but Howard Pyle, in this as in so much else, proved himself exceptional. Although he is remembered first and foremost as a visual artist, he wrote so well that many of his books are considered classics: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Otto of the Silver Hand, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, plus several other volumes of Arthurian fiction, and, of course, Men of Iron. At the height of his fame, at the relatively youthful age of 58, Pyle died rather suddenly from a kidney infection. But he left behind quite a vital legacy. A comprehensive collection of his work may be viewed at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington. And of course, his historical adventure writings remain in print -- everywhere.

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    Reviews for Robin Hood

    4/5

    553 ratings23 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Felll in love with Robin Hood as a kid. A classic story. Love Pyle's illistrations.
    • 3/5
      Read this for my Robin Hood module, as with Ivanhoe. This is the second book which I just couldn't read as anything but an English Literature student; my lit student hat remained firmly jammed upon my head. It pains me to read other people's reviews and thoughts on this, given that they're so wildly inaccurate about it. E.g. someone thinking it was "the" book of Robin Hood (and not knowing about the ballad tradition, or the forerunners to this such as Ivanhoe). Or someone thinking it's written in Old English (see also: my review of Ivanhoe). Seriously, no, guys. It's not even Middle English. It's faux-Middle English in parts, but it isn't even that old a text, for God's sake. Even Shakespeare (late 1500s/early 1600s) was writing in Modern English. This was written in 1883 or so, right? About as Anglo-Saxon as what I'm writing right now!

      And then people thinking this is "the" book, the original. Sheesh.

      Obviously, a lot of the stories come straight from the surviving ballads -- perhaps all; I haven't read every single Robin Hood ballad. They're expanded upon by Howard Pyle, in that he writes them out as a coherent narrative and with all the same characters recurring, and obviously it's not in verse. It's a pretty sanitised version, given that Robin rarely kills as an outlaw: once when he becomes an outlaw (as opposed to the fifteen he kills in the original ballad, Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham) and once when he kills Guy of Gisborne (and unlike in the ballad, he doesn't cut Guy's face off). It wasn't obvious that it was an adaptation for children, from the language -- it's not exactly difficult, but nor is it easy or exciting. Still, in the time period, perhaps that's not surprising. (I should have some basis of comparison, given my Introduction to Children's Literature course, but I can't bring anything to mind right now.) The sanitisation gave it away rather, in any case.

      I did get kind of bored reading it, honestly. Each tale is more or less the same -- they're practically all "Robin meets his match" stories, and at the end the stout yeoman will join the band. The writing isn't intensely exciting, as I mentioned. I did enjoy it, and possibly would have enjoyed it more in small doses. And, of course, it's very episodic so it can easily be read in small chunks.

      It's, ah, one of the more 'homosocial' Robin Hood stories I've read, honestly. There are two or three mentions of Marian, at most, and she doesn't come into it as a character at all -- I half-expected a chapter that came from Robin Hood and Maid Marian. And Will Scarlet is so very, very camp. And Little John and Robin are so very very close. It kind of read like a slashfic of Robin Hood, sometimes.

      I will confess, the epilogue made me want to cry. Oh, Robin. Incidentally, apparently tales of Robin's death are quite rare, and this is one of the few.

      (Note: If anyone wants links to the ballads, or indeed, this book, online, I know where the book can be downloaded legally as an ebook, and where the ballads are collected online.)
    • 3/5
      After a whilenit gets repetitive. Old english writing. Slow to read.
    • 5/5
      Anon, presently I shall tell thee of reading merrily. I prayth thee to read in sooth a tale that anon whilst per chance entertain. I love that old speech! I read this the first time in about the 7th grade and I had forgot the ending. It might not be pc today, but is definitely that way things tend to turn out.
    • 1/5
      Tried to listen to as a family and nobody could really get into it.
    • 2/5
      While appreciating the historical significance of this established collection of Robin Hood tales, I found it interesting only on that basis. The Robin Hood stories appeared in several plays and books dating back to the 1300's. Pyle collected them and wrote them as children's stories, creating as much of an established story line as exists (even though it lacks key elements seen elsewhere). The adventures paint a picture of Robin Hood inclusive of the skill, mirth, and wit we associate with the legend. He still only rarely emerges as a dynamic character. There are a few times he shows flares of outrage or exhibits immature choices. The tales each stand on their own, with little development over time. It's more like reading a series of half-hour cartoons than an epic. What I liked best were the elements of 13th century life and culture. It was still hard to read such length without story.
    • 3/5
      What's not to love? It's Robin Hood and the stories about him are always fun. This is not my favorite version of the Robin Hood stories but it works.
    • 2/5
      I'm a huge fan of the BBC Robin Hood series, and like well all of the Robin Hood movies I've seen. Yet 20 years after the first time I tried to read Pyle's most famous collection of Hood stories, I still do not like this rendition.

      It was written in the 19th century, but in attempt to make it seem more authentic the 12th century men are written to speak as if they are in the King James Bible. I don't believe commoners spoke that way then.

      Also there are far too many retellings of nearly identical stories. We get it, Robin and his men are much better archers than nearly everyone else, but how many competitions do they really need to win?

      I understand that 900 years ago we didn't have photo ID, or biometrics, but was it really that easy to conceal your identify? How can simply wearing a color other than "Lincoln green" be enough? Can the Sherriff of Nottingham be so stupid as to not recognize one of the communities most wanted men "Little John" is the same man who has been serving in his guard for 6 months?

      I'm not certain what religion Howard Pyle is, but I suspect that he is a Protestant as he seems to really despise Catholic clergy. While I agree there may have been some corrupt clergy in the 12th century, even his protagonists clergyman "Friar Tuck" is depicted in the unflattering light of being a drunkard.

      Previously I had thought that Pyle's Hood was the original, I learned later that he collected and retold much older (and allegedly bloodier) tales. I'm not sure if those are worth getting your hands on, but Pyle's "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" is worth skipping. The production quality of the audiobook was good, which is how this ended up with a two star.
    • 5/5
      While reading this I kept thinking what a shame it was that I hadn't read this as a child because it's just the kind of story I would have loved as a girl. Truthfully, as an adult I still love it. The prologue itself tells you that if you're a sourpuss and like to take things too seriously, you'd best stay away. I was always a tenant of "the Land of Fancy" as Pyle calls it, so I was very happy to spend time in between the covers of his book. I found myself laughing and smiling throughout all the many stories. I will say that I did not always understand the jokes Robin and his men made, the language is archaic and it was not always easy reading but it was always enjoyable. Robin Hood was my favourite Disney movie as a child and the Kostner version is still a guilty pleasure of mine, but little did I know how different the actuall adventures from the book were. The only time seriousness comes about is at the end, in the Epilogue, which I loved despite that I cried the whole time I read it. The only thing more I could wish for from this book was to actually hear all the many songs sung in it's pages.
    • 4/5
      This book and I go back a long way, as I was eight years old at the time we first met, and the book, published in 1883 was only sixty-four. We've both seen more years since then. Pyle's redaction of the major Robin Hood Ballads still holds up well and is still suitable as a child's (or an adult's) introduction to the Canon. The art, is very good.
    • 4/5
      Nottingham, England, ca 1250.
      Indeholder "Hvem var Robin Hood?", "1. Hvordan det gik til, at Robin Hood blev fredløs", "2. Robin Hood mødes med Lille-John", "3. Fredsdommeren i Nottingham sender en Kedelflikker ud med en Stævning til Robin Hood", "4. Kedelflikkeren møder Robin Hood", "5. Præmieskydningen i Nottingham", "6. Will Stutely bliver taget til Fange", "7. Robin Hood giver sig ud for Slagter og sælger Kød paa Torvet i Nottingham", "8. Lille-John gaar til Marked i Nottingham og tager Tjeneste hos Dommeren", "9. Lille-John og Garveren Arthur den Blide", "10. Mødet med Mølleren Midge", "11. Allan af Dalen bliver optaget mellem Robin Hoods Mænd", "12. Robin Hood gaar ud for at lede efter den skaldede Munk", "13. Robin Hood holder Bryllup for Allan af Dalen og Skøn-Ellen", "14. Robin Hood holder Gilde for en Ridder af den bedrøvelige Skikkelse og for Biskoppen af Hereford", "15. Robin Hood betaler sin Gæld til Abbeden", "16. Ridder Richard betaler sit Laan tilbage", "17. Robin Hood forklæder sig som Tigger", "18. Dronning Eleonora indbyder Robin Hood til Kapskydning", "19. Den store Kapskydning", "20. Robin Hood og hans Ledsagere bliver forfulgte", "21. Robin Hood træffer Guy af Gisbourne", "22. Kong Richard Løvehjerte besøger Robin Hood i Sherwoodskoven".
      I ordets bogstaveligste forstand er her en bunke røverhistorier. Pyles bog er oprindeligt skrevet i 1893 og samler blot op diverse gamle udgaver af skrønen, der måske og måske ikke er "baseret på en virkelig person".
    • 4/5
      In the book Robin Hood many short stories are brought together to describe how Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor. One story, “Robin Hood and the Tinker”, is like many others in how a rich person is invited to dine in Sherwood Forest. After feasting together and before company left, Robin would take at least half the money the rich man carried. Of the half that Robin took, half of that would go to charity. Another chapter, “Robin Turns Beggar”, shows how Robin often went out in beggar’s clothing to befriend false beggars and took from them for cheating honest people. The book ends with Robin becoming ill. He dies from being bled too long by his cousin.

      I thought this book was good because it had a lot of interesting parts. I thought some parts were very adventurous. It made me feel like I was there. It was great feel good book because the poor where better off with Robins help. A downside was that it had a lot of filler sentences and at times became tiresome to read. Also it had a lot of names of characters who weren’t important which made following characters difficult. I would recommend this book to any one that likes old English and adventure.
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully written and illistrated version of the Robin Hood tales. A joy from beginning to end.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book I've read on my Kindle. I was able to download it for free from Google Books and I'm glad I did. To tell the truth I didn't even know this was a book until I stumbled across it. I guess I should have known better but it just never showed up on my radar before now.

      The title of the book is the Merry Adventures of Robin Hood for a reason; it is more of a series of short stories featuring Robin and his band of Merry men than one long story about Robin. If you've seen any of the Robin hood movies you've seen a couple of the short stories merged into one longer whole but, for the most part, there are a lot of Robin's tales you haven't' experienced yet.

      My favorite Robin Hood movie is the animated Disney classic. It incorporates a couple of the merry adventures, such as the archery tournament; but, interestingly Prince John (the phony king of England) isn't really a problem for Robin most of the time. Instead, the Sheriff of Nottingham is. However, even the Sheriff isn't really all that evil and instead is just incompetent and a bit afraid of Robin.

      Interestingly I'm glad I had just finished Ken Follett's "Pillars of the Earth" before reading this as I had a better understanding of the roles of various religious figures as well as what it meant to be the Sheriff.

      The language, while often archaic, is pretty easy to read and understand and the book, as a whole, was fun. I recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Reading this took me right back to my childhood. I remembered just about every encounter including the first meetings of Robin with Little John, and Robin with Friar Tuck (tremendous fun), the hoodwinking of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and Robin's fight to the death with Guy of Gisborne. There is not a great deal of depth in the stories, and the sun always seems to shine in the greenwood, but for sheer high-spirited adventure these are hard to beat. Howard Pyle's diction is faux-medieval but that's part of the reading fun. I missed not having his illustrations in my free Kindle edition (looked them up later on Google Images to remind myself) but that's a limitation of the Kindle, and who can really carp over a freebie?
    • 4/5
      The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood try to explain the life of Robin Hood, notorious English outlaw and folk hero, starting from his youth, in which he gets his riches and livelihood yoinked by a mean uncle, to his eventual life of benevolent larceny.

      Pyle made the effort of compiling the ballads of Robyn Hode, taking the collection of existing literature and composing a sort of biography of this mythical hero. And he did this before it was cool. Since then, Pyle’s book has been considered by many to be the definitive Robin Hood collection.

      He tells the stories of not only how Robin Hood came to be, but also how he managed to recruit his Merry Men (hint: he challenges them to a fight and then is thoroughly walloped), and follows his exploits against the Sheriff of Nottingham, the clergy, and Prince John (among other nobles).

      I enjoyed this collection of tales, with the exception of the last two, which were somewhat depressing, and found that though the still bear the flavor of the era in which they were written (e.g., most female characters are given little roles that tend to not last beyond a single chapter), these stories are perfectly readable.

      Some of them may be too grim for small children, but for the well-adjusted teen or adult, many of the stories leave the reader laughing, and sometimes at Robin’s own folly.

      While this book alone would not be sufficient to elevate Robin Hood to folk hero status, if you are in any way interested in one take on his life, be sure to read Pyle’s compilation. It’s in the Public Domain, so it’ll only cost you your time.
    • 4/5
      We finished Robin Hood this morning and read through the epilogue. We should have stopped at the end but the kids insisted we read through. Tears all around. Ashlyn was the most affected by the way he died. If he had only died in honest battle instead of being betrayed and murdered. A surprisingly poignant ending to a uproariously funny tale. We had so much fun reading this book and reenacting battles. Chapter after chapter Robin proved to truly be a good guy and it seemed that his luck would never run out. We took some consolation in the fact that Robin was reunited with his band before he died. Wonderfully done and as always the original is much much better than any retelling!
    • 3/5
      I haven't read it since Jr. High and was surprised at how much modern TV and movies have plagiarized. The book contains collected short stories of the exploits of Roben Hood and his merry men. What makes these trickster tales so amazing is their simplicity and humility. The tales exemplify Jesus' teaching on the last will be first and first....last. Even Robin is not exempt from being brought low. The difference between him and those that Robin is rebelling against is his ability to humble himself and even seek help from those that have bested him.
    • 3/5
      This set of Robin Hood tales is closer to the original ballad form than most others - at many points, I could envision a clear narrator/storyteller, performing for an audience. At times, he even addresses them directly and interacts with them. The stories are generally very fun, set up as entertainment rather than with a moral lesson or fable or something - hence, a Robin Hood that is more scallywag than hero, and merry men that are, well, merry. My only gripe is that I found it very dry after a certain point, and had to really struggle past the halfway point. It was pretty easy to put down and forget about.
    • 3/5
      i loved this book
    • 5/5
      One of my favorites since I was a kid. Believe it or not, this is truly based on the ancient ballads it claims to be (I did an undergrad thesis on Robin Hood many years ago, *before* that Costner disaster). It also served as the basis for the Errol Flynn film. It's always fun to go back and reread.

      Not that I have a Robin Hood obsession or anything.
    • 5/5
      Another favorite childhood book of mine, these are no Disney tales scrubbed clean for tiny tots. The tales contained in this volume are hearty and full of cracked pates and naughty knaves. There is blood, and fighting with quarterstaff; there is also good humor and laughter. The language is stiff with "thine," "methinks," "quoth," and other medieval-sounding vocabulary that would be difficult for many modern children to overcome, but I always loved the ancient romanticism it evokes. When the merry men break into song, the songs are complex.

      Robin Hood is not portrayed as infallible or always victorious, but his is a lovable character. Although the well-known legend of his deeds states that he stole from the rich to give to the poor, in this book, Robin is quite often described as stealing from the rich and keeping for himself. He does aid those who seek him, but the band of outlaws in Sherwood Forest seem to have more than enough for themselves.

      It is told how, as a youth, Robin killed a man in anger and how this event sent him into the forest as an outlaw. Robin's feud with the Sheriff of Nottingham is described in parallel with many other of his brave doings. Many tales relate how various members of the outlaw band were recruited by Robin. Near the end of the book, Robin meets King Richard and is made an Earl. Richard pardons all the merry men and takes Robin with him to London. This is how the book ends, except for the Epilogue which, the author kindly explains, "speaks of the breaking up of things." Not reading this Epilogue, the reader is left with the warm feeling of a good story well told, and believes that Robin (as Robert the Earl) lives happily ever after. There is no harm in that, and many readers will prefer this ending. But for some, like myself, who need to go on, the final fate of Robin is very sad and not at all what the Hollywood film people would like.

      Set in the early 1200's in England, much of the animosity of the Saxons for their Norman conquerors is evident. Saxons are described as strong, hard-working, honest, poor people, often with light yellow hair and blue eyes. The aristocracy, especially the clergy, are greedy, cowardly, rich, and fat. However, Robin appears to come from a higher class than the average Saxon. He takes to leading "his" men easily and they treat him as master without question (even joyously). Part of the terms of their service is that he provide them with clothing twice or three times a year, in addition to money, food, and protection within Sherwood. When King Richard makes Robin an Earl, he grants the other outlaws only the status of game-keepers, even Little John who was Robin's right-hand man.

      One other thing that readers may find surprising is the almost total absence of female characters. Trained as we are on the feature film versions of the Robin Hood legend, we expect the ravishing Maid Marian to have a larger role in this book. Yet, she is mentioned only twice, and never appears.

      The illustrations in this book are fantastic and when I think of Robin Hood it is these color drawings that come to mind. Some are smaller, but most are one- or two-page spreads, showing mainly heroic battles with the men in Lincoln green prominent.
    • 5/5
      Howard Pyle's illustrations, though surprisingly dark, are absolutely without peer.