Review by Maryom and The Mole
David Calcutt retells nine of the best known tales of Robin Hood starting with how he became an outlaw, his meetings with Little John and Maid Marion, Friar Tuck and Allan-a-dale, his skirmishes with the Sheriff and his men, and, of course, Robin's amazing skill with bow and arrow.
I have always wondered where the stories originated and what basis new stories had. Calcutt explains the original sources as being ballads contemporary to the the time and then rather than retelling the stories in the way we all know and repeat them, he has gone back to the Victorian collections and then retold them in his own words.
These are all tales I feel I've known for ever - I come from Nottinghamshire and played inside the Major Oak as a child and had several collections of Robin Hood stories but I've never seen such a gorgeously illustrated collection. Every page is not just illustrated but each page almost looks watermarked with a woodlandy feel.
I'm not quite sure whether to describe this as a picture book. It IS illustrated throughout but 'picture book' doesn't really seem to do it justice.
The stories of Robin Hood are amongst those that every child should know and enjoy in their own collection and this is the nicest collection that I have ever seen.
Our Review - 5 stars
Publisher - Barefoot Books
Genre - Folk/Fairy Tales, Picture Book
Buy Robin Hood
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