The only children’s book by Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin is illustrated by Kate Greenaway. Compared to the tale’s original recording, Browning’s narrative poem was written fairly recently: the legend first appeared in a church window around 1300 AD and this version of the story was written in 1842. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is split up into fifteen verses with unique rhyming schemes and lengths.
While the Mayor and Corporation discuss ways to free their village from rats, the Pied Piper appears at their doorstep. They agree to pay the piper a thousand guilders if he can use his ‘secret charm’ to rid Hamelin of rats. After using his pipe to create a tune to guide the rats into the river, the Pied Piper asks for his guilders. However, the Mayor refuses to pay him. In response, the piper uses his pipe to take away the village’s children.
This old tale has a lesson: always keep your promises. The Pied Piper would not have taken the village’s children if the Mayor had kept his promise and paid the piper a thousand guilders.
As The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a short story with pictures on most pages, I doubted I would like it. However, I enjoyed reading a narrative poem, and it was quite different to the books I normally read. Also, I think every story with a moral (lesson) is worth reading. I have no reason not to give this tale five stars.