Yep, it's another book by Michael Morpurgo with his trademark framing story. This one's a winner. A boy spends a fearful night with his grandmother in the tiny room under the stairs, lit by guttering candles, as a hurricane rages outside. In the morning he races out to see if "his" tree, a great oak in a high valley, has survived. He is devastated to see it has been entirely uprooted. As he clambers down into the crater made by its overthrow, he finds a silver arrowhead, a hollow cow's horn, a long bow of wood and — a skeleton.Fainting, he falls into a dream. Or is it the dream falling into him? Has Robin Hood come to the future and merged with his memories or has he tumbled into the past to learn the true story of the legendary Outlaw of Sherwood Forest?The merrie men are misfits, dwarves, hunchbacks and the disabled in this retelling. Marion is a cagot, an albino. Friar Tuck is a man of faith, his failing a fondness for a little tipple too many. Little John is the king's armourer, a smith who appears — so Tuck says — because the Lord knew the Outlaws needed one. As Much the Miller's son is the answer to a need for someone to teach the Outlaws how to wrestle.Robin has a little son Martin who is captured by treachery. It is Marion who saves him.All the elements of the legend are there but sufficiently rearranged to contain a more than a few surprises — and keep the interest bubbling along at a very merrie pace.One of his best.
I don't know much about Robin Hood so I can't comment on its accuracy, but I know that Michael Morpurgo is quite a reliable and researched author. Outlaw was a very easy and enjoyable read and I would recommend it highly. It is quite curious how it was written. Most of the book is from Robin Hood's perspective, but you don't know whether the young boy from the first chapter is dreaming about Robin or whether Robin is dreaming about the boy. One assumes the former, particularly as it says that th
What do You think about Robin Of Sherwood (1996)?
This is an enjoyable young adult novel, and a decent retelling of the Robin Hood legend. The story is greatly simplified, but it is well-told overall with some clever twists and turns. I would agree with other reviewers who found the present-day framing narrative around the story to be quite unnecessary to this book.If one is looking for a decent young adult version of the legend this one stacks up somewhere in the middle, several notches above the recent A.C. Gaughen novel Scarlet and Kathryn Lasky's Hawksmaid, comparable to Nancy Springer's Rowan Hood books, but quite a few notches below Michael Cadnum's Robin Hood books.
—Blair Hodgkinson
Now reprinted and retirled 'Outlaw' in March 2012this book is no longer available as Robin of Sherwood.This books is fantastic and I think children would be riveted to this from start to finish. My only criticism is the 'dream' scenario, which is perhaps a tad outdated now with today's modern audience who are more adventerous, but it does retell the story of Robin Hood beautifully and the description is fantastic. This could be a good book for reluctant boy readers, although there is some complex langauge in it at times.My favourite children's author. This is not his best book but it does come close.
—Chris
