Robin Hood

by Margaret Early

Meticulously detailed paintings and beautiful, colorful borders bring to life the life and legend of the great English folkhero Robin Hood, Maid Marian, the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, and Robin's fellow outlaws, Little John, Friar Tuck, and Alan a'Dale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, History

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 1996

About the author

Margert Early (1951- ) is an Australian artist and book illustrator. Born in the New England region of New South Wales, she was educated at the New England Girl’s School; Sydney University (BA); the Shillito Design School (diploma); and at St Martin’s School of Art in London (post-graduate diploma). She was married to the Irish artist Michael Farrell, and has lived for many years in France, in the village of her Huguenot ancestors. She has published six children's books, originally through the Walter McVitty publishing house in Australia, and through Harry N. Abrams in the USA. Since 1976, her paintings, done in a medieval style, have been included in numerous group exhibitions, and she has also had many individual exhibitions, most recently at the Robin Gibson Gallery in Sydney.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expatriate Australian painter and illustrator Margaret Early, who has also produced such gems as William Tell , Sleeping Beauty and Romeo and Juliet , here turns to the classic English folk hero of Robin Hood, and the result is a lovely picture-book. Covering many of the major events of the Robin Hood story - the dispossession of Robert, son of the Earl of Huntingdon, of his lands, and the creation of the outlaw Robin Hood; the meetings between Robin Hood and Little John, Friar Tuck, Sir Richard of the Lea and Alan A'Dale; the duel and marriage of Robin and Maid Marian; the archery contest in Nottingham; the arrival of King Richard; the death of Robin - the book pairs a full page of text on the left-hand side of each two-page spread with beautiful medieval style illustrations on the right...

I have loved the story of Robin Hood ever since I was a little girl, first encountering it in the pages of Henry Gilbert's Robin Hood , a copy of which belonged to my mother as a child, and was subsequently passed down to me. I first read Margaret Early's retelling back in 1996, when it was published, and for many years I owned my own copy, until an unfortunate flood decimated my personal library. I recall thinking, reading this years ago, that Early's medieval style - somewhat flat, but beautifully ornate, with gorgeous decorative borders - was well-suited to the story. Picking it up today and reading it again, I still feel the same way, and I particularly enjoyed the banquet scene, with its use of red and gold, and the scene in which the outlaws, mounted on horseback in the snow, are giving aid to the impoverished people of the countryside. The story itself is engaging (of course!), although very text-heavy for a picture-book. I'd almost call this an illustrated short story, much like some of Early's other titles. Recommended to Robin Hood fans looking for an illustrated telling, and to fans of the artist's distinctive style.

[Jecenia Vera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hero/ Related Motif: Sacrifice

Early, Margaret. Robin Hood (1996). This is the heroic tale of Robin Hood and his band of followers that lived in Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood was a nobleman outlaw that sacrificed his life to fight for freedom from a greedy king. He lived by a simple code “take only from the rich, to give to the poor.” Early does a wonderful job in retelling the heroic tale. The book is sequenced in terms of events of Robin Hood’s life, brightly painted and bold with beautiful borders. Each story is titled and can stand alone as an adventure of Robin Hood and his band of merry men. Early shares how Robin Hood became an outlaw, how he met his loyal compatriots, married his longtime love Maid Marian, the adventures of the merry men, and then finally how he passed. Each story is paired with a beautiful realistic medieval style painting with bold colors and great detail. The borders that frame each illustration and passage of text are gorgeous- they bring a sophisticated touch with gold coloring and pattern. The stories included are long winded- however, they are full of adventure. All in all, Early does a good job in retelling this tale. Ages 8-12 due to content, vocabulary, size of text and amount of text on each page.

[Emma Grace Blumer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are unique and pair well with the retelling of the Robin Hood legend. I appreciated how it presented his backstory as a defrauded lord seeking to use his influence as a lesser magistrate to fight against usurpers and tyrants. We’ll revisit this one again.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent children's adaptation of the story accompanied by fabulous illustrations made this a very enjoyable addition to our Medieval history study.

2015 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge - Book that became a movie

[R. G. Nairam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful and unique illustrations with a medieval flavor to them. The text, unfortunately, is dull.

[Jamie]

The classic hero’s tale Robin Hood is beautifully retold in this illustrated version.
This book is a condensed variation of the original story by Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. There are 14 individual stories that illustrate the good versus evil themes with Robin’s evolution to a bandit, through his love and adventures, and ultimately his death. Each page is gloriously banded by borders which are reminiscent of illuminated manuscripts. The pictures facing the stories are brightly colored, exquisitely detailed, and bring to life the adventure that is shown. The pictures are realistic with detail and do show some gruesome aspects of bandit life (a lute playing musician lying dead on the ground with his chest and bleeding).
Target Audience grades 2-6.