Robin Hood

Heyer (Rapunzel) draws on complex traditional materials to produce merely a conventional tale with a happy ending. Here, Robin Hood and the Merry Men's ``favorite pastime of waylaying a traveler with whom to share their evening meal'' leads to various adventures: Robin helps a poor but honest knight redeem his lands from a greedy cleric; later, his band holds up the king (who is disguised as a friar). They are pardoned and live ``many years in the King's service.'' (Maid Marianmarion?, marian is correct/eedit should be noted, does not appear.) The characters are all rendered in romance-novel art, awkwardly posed in melodramatic attitudes. Gold borders surround text and art, as if to signal ``gift book,'' but this enterprise is a poor substitute for the richness of less condensed versions. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)