What do you think?
Rate this book
Tales of Magic #4
The Time Garden
Time and again, the children from Knight's Castle have longed for another magic adventure. But you can't find magic just anywhere. It doesn't just grow like grass. It requires the right place and the right time...
Or thyme, as the case may be.
For at Mrs. Whiton's house, magic grows wild as the fragrant banks of thyme in her garden. Eliza insists that time doesn't grow, it flies - yet growing in the garden is olden time, future time, and common time. Or so says the Natterjack, the odd toadlike creature who presides over the garden and accompanies the kids on a series of perilous, hilarious, always unpredictable adventures. "Anything can happen," the Natterjack says with a wink, "when you have all the time in the world."
Or thyme, as the case may be.
For at Mrs. Whiton's house, magic grows wild as the fragrant banks of thyme in her garden. Eliza insists that time doesn't grow, it flies - yet growing in the garden is olden time, future time, and common time. Or so says the Natterjack, the odd toadlike creature who presides over the garden and accompanies the kids on a series of perilous, hilarious, always unpredictable adventures. "Anything can happen," the Natterjack says with a wink, "when you have all the time in the world."
195 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
44 people are currently reading
1909 people want to read
About the author
Edward Eager
29 books324 followersEager was born in and grew up in Toledo, Ohio and attended Harvard University, class of 1935. After graduation, he moved to New York City, where he lived for 14 years before moving to Connecticut. He married Jane Eberly in 1938 and they had a son, Fritz.
Eager was a childhood fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he could not find stories he wanted to read to his own young son. In his books, Eager often acknowledges his debt to E. Nesbit, whom he thought of as the best children's author of all time.
A well-known lyricist and playwright, Eager died on October 23, 1964 in Stamford, Connecticut, at the age of fifty-three.
Eager was a childhood fan of L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and started writing children's books when he could not find stories he wanted to read to his own young son. In his books, Eager often acknowledges his debt to E. Nesbit, whom he thought of as the best children's author of all time.
A well-known lyricist and playwright, Eager died on October 23, 1964 in Stamford, Connecticut, at the age of fifty-three.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 163 reviews
August 28, 2018
2.5 We thought we would enjoy this a lot more than we did. Perhaps we would have enjoyed the series more starting at the beginning. I really like Quentin Blake's illustrations but they really didn't suit this book, their comical style seems much more suited to books that are funny or for a younger reader. I think we would have enjoyed this book more if we had more knowledge about American history, we know very little and several of the time slip episodes happened in events that most US and Canadian readers would be familiar with but left us not understanding what was happening or what period it was set in. We enjoyed an episode where the children help some slaves escape to Canada. There are also references to the oldest boy discovering girls, and being obsessed with females etc. I always found this a bit cringy as a child, several places were eye rolling in the way this was described. I like children to think girls or boys can be friends and viewed as equal human beings and not suddenly interesting because they are viewed as potential love interests. The story seemed to be aimed at fairly young children so I expect they would find this aspect boring.
Many seem to love this series, not one we enjoyed though.
Many seem to love this series, not one we enjoyed though.
May 2, 2024
As a young child, Edward Eager was my favorite author. There was a lovely shelf of Edward Eager books in my school library, and I couldn’t wait each week to pick a new one. This was one of the weaker ones in the series, I thought. Still I couldn’t resist reading this book again when I found a copy in my Little Library this week.
It’s the story of two sets of cousins, each set the children of one of the original four children in Half Magic, now, of course, adults. They go to stay with an elderly woman by the seashore and meet a frog in a magical thyme garden. The children learn they can travel through time with the thyme. (Clever, right?)
It will never be my favorite Edward Eager, but I did find I enjoyed it a little better this time.
It’s the story of two sets of cousins, each set the children of one of the original four children in Half Magic, now, of course, adults. They go to stay with an elderly woman by the seashore and meet a frog in a magical thyme garden. The children learn they can travel through time with the thyme. (Clever, right?)
It will never be my favorite Edward Eager, but I did find I enjoyed it a little better this time.
April 20, 2015
This is a re-read, as I was reading it out loud to my 9-year-old son. I dearly love Edward Eager's books, so it was a bit painful to revisit this one and discover that it was not as good as I'd remembered it. The characterization is great (headstrong Eliza with her "leadership qualities" especially is a terrific prickly girl character, though her character arc wasn't half as satisfying or fully resolved as I'd thought), the dialogue wryly funny, the setting well described, and the premise as magical as any of the other books in the series. But a lot of the reader's enjoyment of the story will depend on their ability to recognize and appreciate American historical, cultural and literary references (which was a bit tough on my Canadian kid) and also their ability to ignore the casual racism toward North American Indians and other so-called "savages" who appear in the book ("Mom," said my son when we read the chapter about the island, "Cannibals don't just eat people randomly 'cause they taste good! They only do it like once a year!").
I still get a kick out of the Natterjack, but dear heavens Edward Eager PUTTING 'H' BEFORE EVERY VOWEL IS NOT HOW A COCKNEY ACCENT WORKS. So this book is a bit tough on Anglophiles as well. I used to prefer this one to its predecessor KNIGHT'S CASTLE, which shares some of the same flaws as THE TIME GARDEN without quite as rich a setting and premise, but I think now my feelings may be leaning the other way around.
I still get a kick out of the Natterjack, but dear heavens Edward Eager PUTTING 'H' BEFORE EVERY VOWEL IS NOT HOW A COCKNEY ACCENT WORKS. So this book is a bit tough on Anglophiles as well. I used to prefer this one to its predecessor KNIGHT'S CASTLE, which shares some of the same flaws as THE TIME GARDEN without quite as rich a setting and premise, but I think now my feelings may be leaning the other way around.
Read
May 14, 2024It's so funny to re-read these and see how CRISP my memories of some of those scenes are, even though I haven't read them in decades.
December 16, 2009
As always, Edward Eager's writing left me feeling happy :-) I love his style--it seems so warm and personal, and "The Time Garden" is a delightful fantasy with lots of humor and fun. Plus, it takes place in the summer so this was a good time to read it ;-)
FYI: there are "Little Women" spoilers in this book :-)
FYI: there are "Little Women" spoilers in this book :-)
March 10, 2023
Another brilliant book in this series! This time Roger and Ann, and their cousins, are packed off to the seaside for the summer, and discover a garden of thyme where a froggy Natterjack uses the magic of thyme to send them back in time on various adventures.
I love how random and funny the magical adventures are, and how the cousins all have different reactions to the time-traveling situations they get into. Eliza is always jumping in and taking action without thinking it through first. Roger is sensible and worried about keeping everyone safe and doing the right thing. Ann is compassionate and sweet and takes the time to notice other people and their needs. Then there's Jack, who is growing up into teenhood, has little interest in magic, and starts noticing girls.
There is something so wholesome and delightful about each of these books that keeps me reading and coming back again and again!
I love how random and funny the magical adventures are, and how the cousins all have different reactions to the time-traveling situations they get into. Eliza is always jumping in and taking action without thinking it through first. Roger is sensible and worried about keeping everyone safe and doing the right thing. Ann is compassionate and sweet and takes the time to notice other people and their needs. Then there's Jack, who is growing up into teenhood, has little interest in magic, and starts noticing girls.
There is something so wholesome and delightful about each of these books that keeps me reading and coming back again and again!
November 22, 2022
Another wonderful Edward Eager tale. My oldest grandson thoroughly enjoyed the tales. Like most of Eager's novels, this one contains many adventures, numerous quality puns, and intricately woven plot threads. A good time was had by both opa and his best reading buddy.
April 6, 2017
Reading Edward Eager's books to the kids has been a lot of fun. Are they great literature? No (but compared to much of what's published today, they're practically Shakespeare). But they really capture that mid-20th-century milieu, while blatantly and shamelessly giving nods to E. Nesbit's books from half a century earlier. (After all, what is the Natterjack but Eager's own Psammead?)
In this book, the four children from Knight's Castle are spending the summer together by the ocean. The discovery of a garden of thyme, presided over by a magical toad-like creature called a Natterjack, begins a series of adventures through time, including a couple visits to American history, encounters with Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, and even trips into their own parents' magical adventures. Fictional worlds collide (including a brief cameo by Nesbit's Phoenix and its magical flying carpet).
I didn't know these books existed when I was a kid. But I'm glad that my kids are discovering them.
In this book, the four children from Knight's Castle are spending the summer together by the ocean. The discovery of a garden of thyme, presided over by a magical toad-like creature called a Natterjack, begins a series of adventures through time, including a couple visits to American history, encounters with Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, and even trips into their own parents' magical adventures. Fictional worlds collide (including a brief cameo by Nesbit's Phoenix and its magical flying carpet).
I didn't know these books existed when I was a kid. But I'm glad that my kids are discovering them.
April 25, 2015
Oh dear. How embarrassing. Even for the Natterjack I can't bring myself to give it more than 2 stars.
April 3, 2009
Four cousins find a garden that allows them to travel magically through time (by sniffing thyme). As in all of Eager's books, however, magic is unpredictable and often uncontrollable. This is a great book to read aloud with a mixed age group because the thrills and danger are not too excessive for younger listeners, but the wit and history based humor will appeal to older kids and adults. Another good thing about Eager is that his characters are realistic and interesting. His girls are often brave and forthright, and the boys don't have all the fun. Solid moral values but with a sense of fun and self-deprecating humor.
September 12, 2014
I don't think I'd have found this any more interesting as a child than I do as an adult. Every time there was something there with potential, the book edged away from it. The concept of the time garden had real potential, but there was so little description or sense of space or presence within it that it was barely noticeable - a real shame for such a potentially lovely idea. The Natterjack didn't just pay homage to Edith Nesbitt, it was a washed and wrung-out version of a Nesbitt equivalent character.
September 17, 2012
I really, really, REALLY hated the illustrations of the natterjack. Hated them so much it interfered with my enjoyment of this otherwise enchanting and enchanted story. I loved the central, thyme-y conceit here. I beg to differ that EVERYONE wanted Jo to end up with Laurie in Little Women, however. I'm a huge Eager fan, and this is a lovely entry in the canon.
April 6, 2020
It is hard to pick a favorite part of this book since each chapter is a gem, but perhaps it is the one where the children encounter the March family! Or where they meet Queen Elizabeth I! Or the scene at the end where they influence all the theater-goers...
A wonderful Greater Boston setting!
A wonderful Greater Boston setting!
July 31, 2011
Not my favorite so far in the series, but still clever and cute. We really enjoyed the time travel, and how the kids actually run into their parents years earlier on their own magic adventure.
June 27, 2019
Reading The Time Garden was just as fun and magical an experience as reading the previous books in this timeless series! I don't think the plot had quite as much momentum as Half Magic and Knight's Castle, but there was still plenty of fun to be had here. The use of famous historical and literary settings fully matches those of the previous books, and there is the same sense of affectionately poking fun at some of the real and fictional characters.
Compared to the previous three stories, The Time Garden does not disappoint; it maintains the innocent humor, the relatable characters, and the warm, personable narration. This is a series I almost wish I had first read as a kid, but discovering it later has been like finding buried treasure in plain sight!
Compared to the previous three stories, The Time Garden does not disappoint; it maintains the innocent humor, the relatable characters, and the warm, personable narration. This is a series I almost wish I had first read as a kid, but discovering it later has been like finding buried treasure in plain sight!
September 25, 2021
I enjoyed this more than its predecessor, although I think this one, also, relies too heavily on literary and historical settings. Still, intriguing magic system and fun magical guardian (Natterjack). I liked that the lady they stay with (can't remember her name offhand) is a spicy one instead of the quaint granny character I was expecting. I just wish she was in the story more. Roger continues to be my favorite character, as he tries hard to be responsible and to do good. Impulsive Eliza is great fun too, though.
April 19, 2025
Read aloud to our 9 & 5 year olds. Follows the author's usual pattern of a fun summer dabbling with magic, and the magic never turning out like one would expect. This one is about time travel, and has many puns on thyme/time, as takes place in a thyme garden.
July 30, 2021
It's Edward Eager, so it's worth reading, sure, but it's one of his lesser ones. The magic system is sort of random and unconvincing (as opposed to Half Magic, so specifically and originally delineated), the characters are (with the exception of a little-seen elderly guardian) barely drawn, the adventures are unexciting, and it simply pales in comparison.
Oh, and it's awfully of its times, in both senses of the word 'awfully,' including an Indian attack against American colonists, and cannibals on a South Seas Island. For a moment I got excited because the author introduced escaping slaves, but they didn't exist as characters, only as opportunities to show how nice and helpful the white folks could be.
So while it's pleasant enough, perhaps it's one of those books by an otherwise classic author that are better left unread, unless you're a completist. Certainly don't start here!
P.S. N. M. Bodecker's illustrations are always wonderful. He's up there in my top 10 of children's book illustrators. If he's involved, it's hard for me to say no to a book!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful.)
Oh, and it's awfully of its times, in both senses of the word 'awfully,' including an Indian attack against American colonists, and cannibals on a South Seas Island. For a moment I got excited because the author introduced escaping slaves, but they didn't exist as characters, only as opportunities to show how nice and helpful the white folks could be.
So while it's pleasant enough, perhaps it's one of those books by an otherwise classic author that are better left unread, unless you're a completist. Certainly don't start here!
P.S. N. M. Bodecker's illustrations are always wonderful. He's up there in my top 10 of children's book illustrators. If he's involved, it's hard for me to say no to a book!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful.)
February 25, 2015
"Anything can happen when you have all the time in the world" p 20 on the sundial in the thyme patch reminds me of Jane Louise Curry's Parsley Sage Rosemary and Time https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . The froggy Natterjack proud Cockney accent " 'ighly superior" p 24 "London bred my grandaddy's grandaddy was .. H'emigrated 'ere" p 24 'ides in a patch of thyme for visiting children. Four cousins re-unite for magic holiday while Roger's dad puts on a London play, other parents tour Europe. Reliable Roger is brother to kindly Ann. She carries Natterjack in pocket. Cousin Eliza looks angry in drawings, sure to "cross two fingers of one hand, behind her back" p 51. Jack ignores others, nearest "keen girl" p 10 inspires "glazed expression" p 8.
"Old Mrs Whiton" related "by marriage" calls them in "deep gruff voice" p 12 to "plunged boldly in" p 16 brisk cold sea swims. "Tardiness will not be excused" p 17. The 3-story tall "historic old house on the South Shore near Boston" p 5 is above a cliff. The "boom of the sea" p 12 "waves were sure to wake them early" p 14 "curling whitely on the rocks below" p 15. For swims, even boys wear full shoulder length black "old-fashioned bathing dress that ought to have looked very funny but somehow .. didn't" p 16 in drawings of them all.
Large noses lifted snobbishly high, "splendidly dressed" p 64 Southerners seek their three slaves, hiding in the barn for the Underground Railroad.
A drawing of a teen couple in falling snow, girl with hands tucked in warm muff precedes when Old Mrs Whiton drives them to the home of Louisa Alcott, author of Little Women.
The children then meet Queen Elizabeth I. "O Queen, we are strangers come from a far land in our native dress to do you homage" p 141.
I'm not fond of the kids. Eliza is selfish, hot-tempered. Ann is goody-goody. Jack disbelieves his own eyes, dazed with hormones. Roger is well, there, I think. But I spend the whole series smiling, especially over the drawings, will continue.
"Old Mrs Whiton" related "by marriage" calls them in "deep gruff voice" p 12 to "plunged boldly in" p 16 brisk cold sea swims. "Tardiness will not be excused" p 17. The 3-story tall "historic old house on the South Shore near Boston" p 5 is above a cliff. The "boom of the sea" p 12 "waves were sure to wake them early" p 14 "curling whitely on the rocks below" p 15. For swims, even boys wear full shoulder length black "old-fashioned bathing dress that ought to have looked very funny but somehow .. didn't" p 16 in drawings of them all.
Large noses lifted snobbishly high, "splendidly dressed" p 64 Southerners seek their three slaves, hiding in the barn for the Underground Railroad.
A drawing of a teen couple in falling snow, girl with hands tucked in warm muff precedes when Old Mrs Whiton drives them to the home of Louisa Alcott, author of Little Women.
The children then meet Queen Elizabeth I. "O Queen, we are strangers come from a far land in our native dress to do you homage" p 141.
I'm not fond of the kids. Eliza is selfish, hot-tempered. Ann is goody-goody. Jack disbelieves his own eyes, dazed with hormones. Roger is well, there, I think. But I spend the whole series smiling, especially over the drawings, will continue.
July 14, 2021
The first half of the book was about historical time travel, and personally that doesn't grab me at all--especially American history. I was all set to just skim read the rest of the book but the next part had the kids rescuing some other kids from an island--and the rest of the book was similarly interesting with English history, and so I enjoyed reading through the rest of the book.
July 1, 2015
Roger, Ann, Eliza, and Jack are back together for the summer while their parents are in England. They're staying in a very old house by the sea with a Great-aunt of some sort, Mrs. Whiton. In any case, there's a marvelous garden full of thyme...and time, as it turns out. Their magical guide this time is a Natterjack--a frog-like creature who minds the garden and the magic.
As they use the thyme for time travel, all sorts of adventures ensue.
2.5 stars, really. This one was a bit slower for us. We still liked it and the kids were still eager to listen to it, but quite a bit of the history went over their heads, especially the adventures in the last half of the book. The 2 adventures in the beginning, with the Minutemen and the Underground Railroad really had them captured, as did the adventure where they saved their parents (as kids) from the cannibals.
On the other hand, they don't know anything about Little Women yet, or either Queen Elizabeth or Queen Victoria, or the Tower of London. So by the end it was dragging a bit and they were ready to be done with it and move on.
They have talked about testing out our garden thyme though, just in case. :)
As they use the thyme for time travel, all sorts of adventures ensue.
2.5 stars, really. This one was a bit slower for us. We still liked it and the kids were still eager to listen to it, but quite a bit of the history went over their heads, especially the adventures in the last half of the book. The 2 adventures in the beginning, with the Minutemen and the Underground Railroad really had them captured, as did the adventure where they saved their parents (as kids) from the cannibals.
On the other hand, they don't know anything about Little Women yet, or either Queen Elizabeth or Queen Victoria, or the Tower of London. So by the end it was dragging a bit and they were ready to be done with it and move on.
They have talked about testing out our garden thyme though, just in case. :)
March 5, 2021
It was alright, although my daughter needed a lot of explaining about all the historical and literary references, and it didn’t seem as engaging as the earlier books in his series,somehow dragged. Also didn’t really care for the derogatory portrayal of “savages” but it is already dated as copyrighted 1958. So views have changed since and I guess I lean towards a more pc mindset. My daughter is big on magic, and big on writing. An only child. So all the cousins and the references to Little Women and all the sisters makes for an imaginary world that whisked her away, regardless, but something was lost, even so. Countless times, she just fell asleep as I read. So it wasn’t enthralling enough, but I guess it did the trick, this pandemic winter. Put us a little to sleep. And yet, there is something magic about the kids traveling through time and rescuing their parents about to be a meal for cannibals. That was the best part, but also touching back to the plot from Magic by the Lake, so we saw it coming a mile away.
May 6, 2015
In the third installment in Eager's magic series, four children spend the summer at a mysterious old house by the sea, and discover the house has a magical garden.
This is my personal favorite of the series, in part because of the plays on "time" and "thyme" and the crossover chapter (but no details on that because of spoilers). In general, the book is rather like a seven year old watched a few episodes of Doctor Who and then decided to write a book with his own childish adventures. In the end, it's good fun and ends too soon (but that seems to be how magic always works).
This is my personal favorite of the series, in part because of the plays on "time" and "thyme" and the crossover chapter (but no details on that because of spoilers). In general, the book is rather like a seven year old watched a few episodes of Doctor Who and then decided to write a book with his own childish adventures. In the end, it's good fun and ends too soon (but that seems to be how magic always works).
November 11, 2015
A children's magical adventure very much in the vane of E.Nesbit stories. Unfortunately, it's constantly acknowledging how similar it is to the works of E.Nesbit, which does not help matters. It is especially unhelpful due to the fact that it is quite dissimilar in one respect, which is that it is nowhere near as imaginative.
It picks up quite a bit towards the end but is still fairly tame and boring compared to the predecessors it tries to ape.
It picks up quite a bit towards the end but is still fairly tame and boring compared to the predecessors it tries to ape.
May 24, 2007
Edward Eager's books are classics, and some of my very favorites from childhood. The illustrations by N.M. Bodeker were a huge influence on me, and I loved the stories (you think Harry Potter is original? Hardly). These are excellent books, published mid-century, that build on a foundation laid decades earlier by masters like E. Nesbit.
July 5, 2013
It would be nice if books that are part of a series would say somewhere on the binding which number in the series it is. I may have enjoyed this book more if I'd read books 2 and 3. I've read book one - Half Magic which I enjoyed a lot more than this book.
I found the characters flat, so I didn't really care what happened to them. Their adventures were kind of boring as well.
I found the characters flat, so I didn't really care what happened to them. Their adventures were kind of boring as well.
November 28, 2007
awwww....I love Edgar Eager books. It has a kind of old fashioned feel to it that adds soooo much charm.
July 29, 2008
One of those books that you'll retrieve from the children's section over and over again, no matter how old you are.
April 21, 2010
Witty, humorous, magical and historical. My roommates and i read this book aloud to each other just for fun :)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 163 reviews