The Green Men of Gressingham

The Green Men of Gressingham

Philip Ardagh, illustrated by Mike Phillips

Originally published in 2004 by Barryton State, Ltd.

Stone Arch, 2006

$5.95, Paperback

978-1598891966

February 5^th, 2012

Genre: Adventure

Age: 8+

Description: Tom Dashwood is on his way to becoming a knight. While off to Castle Dashwood to begin his training he is kidnapped by Robyn-in-the-Hat and the Green Men of Gressingham, a band of outlaws who are trying to end unfair taxes placed on the people by Lord Dashwood, Tom’s uncle. When Robyn discovers that Lord Dashwood doesn’t care about his nephew enough to pay a ransom or make any changes for his safe return, Robyn and Tom work together to uncover a political plot exposing the real heir of Dashwood and set out to prove “Lord” Dashwood’s deception of the people.

Opinion: This is a quick read but rather boring and plain. The cover is what attracted me to the book in the first place as Stone Arch books tend to have interesting, eye-catching covers and strong binding. This is basically the story of Robin Hood but twisted a bit. It’s nice to see Robin appear as Robyn—a girl who leads a double life who’s Green Men actually wear brown because “brown hides dirt better and is cheaper to get than green.” The rest of the plot is predictable—they don’t even try to hide the fact that Robyn is a girl since she walks around with her hair in a braid and wears a skirt. It’s a slightly new twist on an old tale but doesn’t really offer anything too new to be super memorable.