Children's Classic Books discussion

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Published: 1911
First serialized in The American Magazine (1910-11)

Summary (Goodreads): In a house full of sadness and secrets, can young, orphaned Mary find happiness?

Mary Lennox, a spoiled, ill-tempered, and unhealthy child, comes to live with her reclusive uncle in Misselthwaite Manor on England’s Yorkshire moors after the death of her parents. There she meets a hearty housekeeper and her spirited brother, a dour gardener, a cheerful robin, and her wilful, hysterical, and sickly cousin, Master Colin, whose wails she hears echoing through the house at night.

With the help of the robin, Mary finds the door to a secret garden, neglected and hidden for years. When she decides to restore the garden in secret, the story becomes a charming journey into the places of the heart, where faith restores health, flowers refresh the spirit, and the magic of the garden, coming to life anew, brings health to Colin and happiness to Mary.

This was a favorite of mine as a child. I first saw the Hallmark movie version, and read the book sometime later. It has a very gothic feel for a children's book, but I think that's part of what I like about it. I'm looking forward to revisiting Mary, Dickon, and Colin.

This is one of my favourites. I first read it as an adult and loved it. I've reread it since then.

Cleo wrote: ""

Love this cover! 🥰

The cover is wonderful, isn't it?

I know that I've read this before and I know the story, but I have no clear recollection of reading it. It must have been long ago. I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with it!

I read this in the midst of the pandemic at the end of 2020. It was such a lovely, sweet book and really a make you feel better read, especially in those days. I will not join your read, but will follow your discussion.
I had also been mainly familiar with the film and TV adaptations until I read it at last.

Hi Hedi! Hope you're doing well! I've seen a couple of adaptations and one was particularly good .... it was the 1993 adaption. I thought the cinematography was just lovely!

I do like this one, but honestly (and I seem to be the only one with this opinion) I love A Little Princess more.

I've also read one of her adult books & really enjoyed it! It has been republished by Persephone: The Making of a Marchioness, Part I and II

Christine PNW wrote: "I've also read one of her adult books & really enjoyed it! It has been republished by Persephone: The Making of a Marchioness, Part I and II..."

I saw this when I was looking up information for The Secret Garden. I've downloaded it and am looking forward to reading it at a later date. Thanks for the recommendation!

I’ve just started. Mary is so spoilt that it will be interesting to see how such entrenched behaviour gets turned around.

I started reading this week, and I'm not quite halfway through. Mary has just discovered Colin. I was wondering, has anyone ever seen any spinoffs or retellings of this book? I was thinking it could be very interesting to do a modern take and write about it from the perspective of the deceased Mrs. Craven - I was wondering how she would feel knowing that her husband was so miserable after her death and her baby so neglected. I'm sure there's a story to be told in her falling in love with Mr. Craven, and I just know that she was behind the wind that showed Mary the door!

I finally started this last night! I don't care for the cover and the art (the original art was MUCH better), but I love the concept of this edition which is "illustrated with interactive elements." It's from 2018

I couldn't give this 5 stars because of the completely unbelievable way that Colin learned to walk and the overdoing of talk about magic (I probably liked those as a young child, though.) This is one of the problems of rereading this as an adult :) I won't spoil it by explaining how he really would have had to do that, but the fact that he could makes sense.

I completely agree with you with regard to the fixation on magic. Didn’t like it at all as an adult but was probably more open to it as a child. But the rest of the novel was so beautifully done that I gave it 6 stars but took one off for the magic mumbo-jumbo. 😉

Karin wrote: "I finally started this last night! I don't care for the cover and the art (the original art was MUCH better), but I love the concept of this edition which is "illustrated with interactive elements...."

MinaLima has such beautiful books and I love their classics line. I only have two of them, The Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid and Other Fairy Tales, and their artwork and the interactive elements of the book are so beautiful. :)

I want to get the rest of their classics, including their Snow White edition which I think was published recently? I don't know when the book had been published but I keep seeing it in the stores and wanting to get it before I shy away because of how much the book costs!

Christine PNW wrote: "I do like this one, but honestly (and I seem to be the only one with this opinion) I love A Little Princess more.

I've also read one of her adult books & really enjoyed it! It has been..."

I absolutely adored A Little Princess! It's one of my favourite children's classics, but I want to read her adult stuff.