The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Pyle, Howard, 1853-1911Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.3
Word count
588K words
Chapters
59

Tags

English Originals Children's Literature Classic WuxiaVengeance and GratitudeJianghu FeudHeroismGrowing UpScreen AdaptationYouth Reading

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard PyleAuthor: Pyle, Howard, 1853-1911,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

Howard Pyle was both a writer and an illustrator, and this book organizes the Robin Hood folk legends into a coherent adventure story for young readers; the greenwood, archery contests, and the outlaws' clashes with officials provide the main appeal. Its prose is brisk and carries the rhythm of old English ballads, with clearly defined episodic chapters that lend themselves well to reading aloud and storytelling. As a classic reader in children's literature and adventure stories, its value lies not in historical accuracy but in preserving the spirit of resisting tyranny, valuing loyalty, and loving freedom found in folk legend, letting readers feel the charm of the storytelling tradition. For adult readers it is an entry point for understanding how the Robin Hood figure was shaped into modern children's literature; for young readers it is a low-threshold choice for entering classic adventure stories. The original is in English, with wording that carries a certain period flavor, so reading with notes or an introduction is recommended.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read chapter by chapter, pausing briefly after each adventure before continuing.
  2. Read dialogue and ballad passages aloud to experience the rhythm and tone of the original.
  3. When encountering archaic expressions, first guess the meaning from context, then look up words after finishing the chapter.
  4. After reading, compare other versions of the Robin Hood stories to see how the figure changes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59

FAQ

What age of child is this book suitable for? In terms of content, it suits children from upper primary school through junior middle school; the stories center on adventure and chivalry, with restrained violence. But the original is in English with period-flavored wording, so the actual threshold for Chinese readers depends on their English level. If the child is still a beginner in English, it is best to start with a Chinese translation or read together with a parent before trying passages from the original.
Do the stories in the book have a historical basis? Robin Hood is a figure of folk legend, and the related stories passed through long oral transmission and later compilation; Pyle's book is a literary retelling, not a historical work. Readers can treat it as a classic reader of legend and children's literature rather than a historical source for understanding medieval English society. Those interested in the historical background should look for separate books on medieval English history.
What makes the English original difficult to read? The main difficulties lie in the period flavor of the vocabulary and the ballad-like sentence patterns; some dialogue contains archaic expressions, and there are many place names and personal names. The plot itself is episodic, with little dependence between chapters, so reading does not easily get stuck. Intermediate readers can proceed chapter by chapter with an annotated edition or a dictionary, aiming first to understand the story and then to examine the language more closely.

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About the author

Pyle, Howard, 1853-1911 Author

Howard Pyle (1853-1911) was an American illustrator and author. Public information about the details of his life is limited, yet he earned lasting renown through his widely circulated works. The library holds nineteen of his works, centering on medieval chivalric legends, outlaw-hero tales, and adventure stories for young readers. Representative titles include The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, The Story of Sir Launcelot and His Companions, Otto of the Silver Hand, Pepper & Salt, Twilight Land, and Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates. Pyle often retold old legends in an elegant yet lively style, emphasizing characterization and an atmosphere of adventure, with illustrations and text complementing each other to make classic stories more accessible to young readers. His works have had a lasting influence on later Anglo-American children's literature and illustration art.