Robin Hood and the Heart of Sherwood Forest a personalised book with your child as the hero

Long ago, in the days when bold King Richard was far away across the sea, the town of Nottingham was ruled by a sheriff who was greedy, unfair and very fond of other people's money. Every year his taxes grew higher, and every year the poor families of the county grew poorer.

One autumn day a young archer called Robin of Locksley watched the sheriff's men ride up to a little farm. They marched into the barn and carried out the family's last sack of grain, while the farmer and his children stood in the doorway and watched.

"That's all we have for the winter!" cried the farmer.

"Then you should have had more," sneered the sheriff's captain, and rode away.

Robin could not stand by and watch it. He stepped into the road and told the captain exactly what he thought of him, loudly, in front of everyone. By nightfall the sheriff had put a price on his head. So Robin took to Sherwood Forest rather than be taken, and the great green trees closed over the road behind him.

Deep in the heart of Sherwood, Robin was not alone for long. Others came to join him: farmers who had lost their farms, people the sheriff had treated unfairly, and young men and women who simply wanted to put things right. They dressed in Lincoln green, so that they could hide among the leaves, and they made their home under a great oak tree. They called themselves Robin Hood's merry band, and they swore to protect the poor and to put right everything the sheriff kept getting wrong.

One day, as Robin was walking through the forest, he came to a stream with a narrow log for a bridge. Halfway across, he met a man coming the other way. He was a giant of a man, a whole head taller than Robin, with a quarterstaff in his hand.

"Make way," said Robin.

"Make way yourself," said the stranger cheerfully. "I was here first."

Neither of them would step back. So Robin cut himself a quarterstaff, and the two of them fought there on the narrow bridge, whack, crack, thwack, until the trees rang with it. And at last, with one great sweep, the stranger knocked Robin clean off the bridge and splash! into the stream.

Robin came up dripping and spluttering, and then he began to laugh. The giant laughed too, and held out a huge hand to pull him out.

"You're the best fighter I've ever met," said Robin. "Will you join us?"

"Gladly," said the stranger. His name was John Little, but because he was so very large, the band called him Little John. And from that day on, he was Robin's friend for life.

Some time after, a very fat purse came riding through the forest. It belonged to a rich abbot on a fine white horse, with saddlebags that clinked with every step. The merry band stopped him on the forest road.

"Don't worry, Father," said Robin, bowing low. "We're not going to rob you. We'd like to invite you to dinner."

The abbot enjoyed his dinner very much, with roast venison and good bread. Afterwards Robin said, "Now, as our guest, you'll want to pay for your supper." And he opened the saddlebags and took out just enough gold to buy grain for every family in the village down the road, and sent the abbot on his way with the rest.

The sheriff was furious. He nailed up posters of Robin's face on every post in Nottingham, with a big reward written underneath. The nose was drawn quite wrong, and the band laughed for days.

Then the sheriff had a cleverer idea. He announced a great archery contest at the Nottingham fair, open to everyone, and the prize was an arrow made of solid gold.

"Robin Hood is the best archer in England," said the sheriff to his captain. "He won't be able to resist. And when he comes to shoot, we'll catch him."

"It's obviously a trap," said Little John.

"Obviously," agreed Robin. "And it's obviously irresistible."

On the day of the fair, a raggedy tinker came limping in through the town gate, with a patched cloak, a patch over one eye and an old pot on his back. The guards looked straight past him. They were looking for somebody in green.

The contest began. One by one the archers stepped up and shot at the target, far down the field. Some hit the edge, some hit the rings, and one or two hit near the middle. Then the raggedy tinker limped up to take his turn. The crowd laughed.

The tinker drew his bow, took aim and let the arrow fly. It struck the very centre of the target, in the very middle of the gold.

The crowd fell silent. Then they cheered and cheered. The sheriff, frowning, handed over the golden arrow, and as the tinker took it, his patched cloak slipped from his shoulders, and there was Lincoln green underneath.

"Robin Hood!" roared the sheriff. "Seize him!"

But the people of Nottingham knew Robin, and they loved him. The whole market closed in behind him, carts and stalls and cows and crowds, so that the sheriff's men could not get through, and by the time they did, Robin was over the wall and away into the forest.

That very night the golden arrow was sold, far away, for a great deal of money. And the next morning, every family the sheriff had taxed found their grain, and their money, and a little extra besides, left quietly on their doorsteps.

That night the whole band feasted under the great oak, with a crackling fire and the stars above them. Somebody told the story of the shot, and somebody else told it again with the distance doubled, and by the end of the evening, Robin had shot the arrow from the other side of the county with his eyes shut.

And while Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest, nobody in Nottinghamshire ever went hungry again.