The Secret Garden

Book Cover: 

Book Title: The Secret Garden

Book Summary:  Mary Lennox was a child that her parents did not want.  So as she grew up she became a self-centered obnoxious child.  She was also sick, but got sicker when cholera hit India.  When she was found she was the only person live in the house, her parents and all of the staff had died.  She was taken to a parish until her closest relative could be notified.  Luckily she had an uncle in England that took her in, all during this time she didn’t lose her self-centered ways.  Her uncle’s staff told her to stay in her two rooms and they would leave her alone and everybody would be happy.  But this was not good enough for Mary.  Until one day one of the maids starting telling her a story of a secret garden.  So she started to explore and found her cousin, who was “crippled” so to speak.  So the two of them and another boy that helped in the gardens found the secret garden one-day.  And that is when things began to change for the household, the boy that was “crippled” was no more, and that rotten of a child had blossomed into a lovely young girl. 

APA Reference:

Burnett, F. H. (1911). The Secert Garden. New York , New York: Fredrick A. Stokes Company.

My Impressions:  Was not my favorite read, I have to be honest.  The way that Mary treated her maids and her uncles maids and the family that took her in, did not sit well with me.  I did like how at the end Mary changed her tune.  She was in the end a changed girl.  There are children out there that grew up thinking that people they met in day to day life are there to serve them and cater to their every whim.  This is a good book to introduce them to so that they can see how it affects the people around them.

Professional Review:

School Library Journal June 1, 2008

Gr 3-6-First published in 1911, Burnett's tale of burgeoning self-awareness, newfound friendship, and the healing effects of nature is presented in an elegant, oversize volume and handsomely illustrated with Moore's detailed ink and watercolor paintings. Cleanly laid-out text pages are balanced by artwork ranging from delicate spot images to full-page renderings. The outdoor scenes are beautifully depicted, presenting realistic images of animals and flowers, with the hues gradually warming in sync with the story's progression from winter's browns and beiges to the lush colors of spring. The young protagonists-lonely Mary Lennox; her sickly and spoiled cousin, Colin; and likable local lad Dickon-bound to life in the evocative paintings, which reflect the wonders of transformations in both nature and in a child's heart. All in all, a lovely interpretation.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Citation:

Fleishhacker, J. (2008, June). Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. School Library Journal, 54(6), 135. Retrieved from http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2506/global/article/GALE|A180907862/d1b7804a305b26fa6cf4184a5ebeb6ba?u=txshracd2679

Library Uses: This book is a good book for learning how to be an adult.  That independance and being fearful of new things is ok.  So I would use it as why do you think Mary feels this way?  Have you felt like this before?