I happened across another great book the other day at Goodwill (Salvation Army really)...Robin Hood. We had already read stories of Robin Hood a number of years ago which we really enjoyed, but the stand out quality of this book is the amazing illustrations by Greg Hildebrandt...they are really magnificent. I did a little more searching and saw that Unicorn Publishing did a whole series of books, many illustrated by Hildebrandt (I actually purchased a couple others for the kids, but don't tell them! :) ). For some reason, the stories of Robin Hood have always been a particular delight...I think we all have some level of interest in the freedom of the greenwood that these "outlaws" enjoyed...their simple life, yet adventurous...their honing of skills with the bow and quarterstaff. This collection had 24 stories, a number of them we hadn't read in the past. It also gives an introductory story about how Robin Hood came to be an outlaw. I must admit, anytime I read about Robin Hood, I have a small concern about the glorification of men who go against the law...however, King Richard does visit their band and accords them pardon so I guess that makes them okay??? I do wonder a bit about the moral aspects of this story. Apart from that, we thoroughly enjoyed these stories and were sad when the book ended (with Robin's death which kind of ended it on a depressing note). Another nice feature was that it was written partially in an old English type of way...that lent it a greater air of authenticity, but needed a bit of explaining at points. Each chapter also began with a couple lines of poetry which was great fun.
This is an easy to recommend classic. I also saw that it is free for Kindle (at least right now) although I don't think that version contains any of Hildebrandt's lovely illustrations. In the interest of full disclosure, some people do die in this book and, I think, there was one instance of questionable name calling.
Listen and hearken, gentlemen,
That be of free-born blood,
I shall you tell of a good yeoman,
His name was Robin Hood.
Robin was a proud outlaw,
While as he walked on the ground:
So courteous an outlaw as he was one
Was never none else found.
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