The Pied Piper of Hamelin

by Robert Browning

Book Overview

Robert Browning's famous verse retelling of the medieval legend of the Pied Piper is renowned for its humor and vivid wordplay. When the selfish townspeople of Hamelin refuse to pay the piper for spiriting away the hordes of rats that had plagued them, he exacts his revenge by luring away their greatest treasure, the children of the town. Color reproductions of Kate Greenaway's beautiful, delicate watercolor illustrations adorn every page.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517093472
• ISBN13: 9780517093474
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.8" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 7 to 9 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 4

Customer Reviews

Share the Magic

This book would be a wonderful treasure for the pictures alone. Kate Greenaway, noted children's illustrator, has created a magical world of beautiful children, innocent faces, and romantic, nostalgic costumes. The colors on these pages are breathtaking, and the details (although Greenaway is always faulted for not drawing hands and feet well) are superb. This story is not for very young children, as it contains some troublesome themes. For the older child, perhaps 7+, the story might provoke some interesting post-read family discussions about honesty, trust, and the actual state of the children at the end of the tale. This is even a beautiful book to give to adults, as the messages about human nature can be appreciated on a deeper level.

Not just for children

This is the "orginal" version of the classic story. Browning's poem is much less a children's tale about a rat catcher than a brilliant study of human psychology, salesmanship, and charisma. Newer re-writes of the story tend to miss the point entirely. Browning's nuances, combined with the older language and somewhat sparse illustrations, makes this book much better suited for adults than younger children.

Beautiful illustrations of a classic story

My son received this book as a birthday present and was thrilled to see the beautiful illustrations. All he could say was Wow!! We are looking forward to more books illustrated by Bud Peen.

Beautiful illustrations

This beautifully illustrated rendition of The Pied Piper is a real treasure. The story is a classic but remains a good lesson to us all. Bud Peen has captured the subtle colors of the period and his detailed work is a delight to the eye. I intend to gift this book to friends.

Masterful illustrations redress timeless classic

Bud Peen's beautiful illustrations provide readers with a wonderful subtext for enjoying this timeless classic. Each page of text comes to life with Mr. Peen's elaborate, thoughtful and beautiful artwork. I bought this book for my daughter, and she loves it! I thought I really knew the old story, but this dressed-up version opened me up to a whole new reading!