Tales of Robin Hood

Usborne Classics Retold

by Tony Allan (Adaptor), Felicity Brooks, Ron Tiner (Illustrator)

Retells some of the best-known stories of Robin Hood, outlaw of Sherwood Forest, and his merry men.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Medieval, School, Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1995

About the author

After studying History at Oxford, Tony Allan worked for the British Broadcasting Company and as a magazine editor before turning to book publishing, including the Myth and Mankind series.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly thought I was going to be bored. But I was wrong! This was so much fun to read aloud. The kids all really enjoyed it. Possibly one of our favorites so far from the year.

[Miguel Benitez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with my 8 year old son. We both really enjoyed it. An exciting story about Robin Hood and his band of outlaws. Lots of great themes to discuss with your kids!

[Katherine Lemieux · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Good, but a lot of killing” - L

[Amanda Parys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to my seven year old. We both really enjoyed the adventures Robin Hood and his bandits took us on!

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this certainly isn't the whole story, what's given is enough to provide a snapshot of Robin Hood and his life. The illustrations are what makes this book a true delight. My daughter was thoroughly engaged and actually asked me to continue reading this to her several times.

[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Fun adventure, and a good introduction to the Robin Hood stories beyond the animated Disney movie. A bit violent at times (naturally), so parents might want to skim first for young or sensitive readers.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book detailing the life and myth of Robin Hood with absolutely amazing artwork to grab your imagination as well.

[Bailey Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best children's retellings of Robin Hood. It hits all the major point quickly while still being interesting.

Recommended 9+ for violence and mild romance

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

We really enjoyed this version of Robin Hood. It has nice illustrations, and is a good telling of the classic story. A good read aloud for my 8 and 5 year old boys.

[Kate Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lately been reading several re-tellings of the Robin Hood stories, and have found this to be one of the best. At the beginning we're told clearly how our hero was forced to become an outlaw, and how he shaped a group of ordinary guys into a loyal band of followers, training them to handle weapons and defend the oppressed. At the end [spoiler alert-- but you probably already know this], his outlaw status was removed by the timely return of the rightful king.
Unlike other accounts that end with his death--and Marian's, this one has him instead looking forward to a much less dangerous new life on the right side of the law, albeit with a sigh of nostalgia for the strong friendships and fierce sense of purpose they had enjoyed living outdoors in the forest.
The full-page illustrations were a beautiful bonus.

[Emmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absoluetly loved Tales of Robin Hood! I was laughing, crying and in the midst of this intense story! I now want to read the original book. I have been familiar with the story of Robin Hood, but reading it was completely different. I loved the intrigue, intense battles and the clear fight of good vs evil. While I don't agree with everything that Robin and his men do, it is a brilliently writen story and I would love to read it again.

The kids seem to enjoy it as well and it was great for talking through truths of Scripture and life.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good. I thought it would be kind of tedious yo read a loud with old language and ideas that need a lot of explaining, but it wasn't! It was just the right length and pace to hold all of our attention. I thought we would break up the chapters more, but we ended up reading entire chapters at a time bc we were all so into the story. It might be too short for an advanced reader, but there are recommendations for more reading at the end, and for related movies (although some of the books/movies are not kid friendly, so proceed with caution there).

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my 5 year old. He devoured it. "Read another chapter, please!" I love that it gives a great story of Robin Hood and at the end it talks about who he might have been if the legends were true. I love how even though it is aimed at children it doesn't dumb down the language used. Great quality literature like this is one of the reasons he has such a wonderful vocabulary.

[Olivia Lyndaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to read and re-read this book all the time when I was bout nine. I loved reading about Robin Hood so much that I would dress up all in green and brown and go into our yard and climb trees while pretending I was one of the merry men. I even decided I was gonna name my son Robin, after him, but also because I liked the name. :)

[Bethany B · Rating 4 out of 5]

K age 10 rated as a 5. He was very into it and didn’t ever want me to stop. F age 8 rates a 4. I think he lost track of some of the characters at times (who was who) and seemed disinterested. This was probably my least favorite read aloud this year but that was probably more to do with the familiarity of the story.

[Jamey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun, relatively quick look at the legend of Robin Hood. It is written in narrative form for younger readers. One thing I would warn parents about is that there are instances when people are killed by the sword. The language describing the deaths gets a bit gruesome a couple times- “the sword went into his flesh like butter”. Other than that, it is a fun and interesting read.

[Nicola Faulkner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my 5 year old. He devoured it. "Read another chapter, please!" I love that it gives a great story of Robin Hood and at the end it talks about who he might have been if the legends were true. I love how even though it is aimed at children it doesn't dumb down the language used. Great quality literature like this is one of the reasons he has such a wonderful vocabulary.

[Tricia Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids loved this book. It’s very engaging & the illustrations are beautiful. At the end, there is a section about whether Robin Hood was an actual person, where references to him are first seen in the ballads, and where in history he might have fit. All very interesting!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never read these stories as a child but am now as part of homeschooling my kids. It was engaging and has great pictures. We would have been glad for a few more stories to be included in this collection.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a read-aloud for school. It's written well enough to be good for the kids' brains, but clearly and compellingly enough that they sometimes put down their snacks to listen more attentively. Also, the illustrations are gorgeous.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud to my 8 year old son who ate this up! He begged for the next chapter. Good, faithful retelling of the story with an appendix at the end giving a historical review of the stories and the origin.

[Michele The Bookish Tea Room · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally finished this one with the kids. I think it wasn’t really interesting to them, but I enjoyed it! It was adventurous and exciting. Some of the fighting scenes were a little too graphic for young kids though and I had to skip a few parts. But it’s Robin Hood and a classic story. A fun read.

[Rachel Dorminy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic introduction to Robin Hood. The writing lacked the poetry of the original but it’s a book that sparks the interest in the stories. Adventurous and doesn’t shy away from the evil that occurred during that time period.

[Kieron Roberson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid retelling of the Robin Hood legend with some good illustrations. I think the thing that stood out to me was the synopsis at the end that covered several differing theories on whether there was a real Robin Hood.

[Robyn Klepfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids LOVED listening to this book!

[Reed Dreifuss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked it.I liked when he fought Guy of Gisborne.

[Christine V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of adventure and nicely illustrated. My boys loved it!

[Suzanne Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The children enjoyed the adventure in this book.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was part of our homeschool curriculum this year. We really enjoyed it and often read ahead of schedule because my son couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

[Katie Brohard · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys really enjoyed this book!