book data
28,763 ratings,
4.15
average rating, 1,824 reviews
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published
April 30th 1998
(first published 1911)
by HarperTrophy
binding
Paperback, 384 pages
characters
setting
The United Kingdom
isbn
006440188X
(isbn13: 9780064401883)
description
Mistress Mary is quite contrary until she helps her garden grow. Along the way, she manages to cure her sickly cousin Colin, who is every bit as imper...more
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avg 4.15
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
gardeners; children
I seem to be the only woman I know who didn't read and cherish this book as a child. So I decided to see what all the fuss was about...
It took me a while to get in step with the tone of this book. The beginning was Jane Eyre-lite...Mary is orphaned and sent from India to England to live with her uncle, a stranger to her. The story progresses...and then....Mary's talking to a robin, and he's showing her where buried keys are. At that point, the mood shifted, and I sat back to enjo...more
It took me a while to get in step with the tone of this book. The beginning was Jane Eyre-lite...Mary is orphaned and sent from India to England to live with her uncle, a stranger to her. The story progresses...and then....Mary's talking to a robin, and he's showing her where buried keys are. At that point, the mood shifted, and I sat back to enjo...more
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2 comments
recommends it for:
parents
I know this book seems out of place among the fare I usually read, but hey, all I can say is that I like what I like. There is some intangible quality to this book that really strikes a chord in me. The whole idea of that sickly child being healed with love, attention, and (forgive me an LDS joke) wholesome recreational activities, just somehow speaks Truth to me. I think this book has strong application to today's problems with the rising generation. I really believe that kids these days ar...more
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Genre: Historical fiction Reading level: Ages 9-12
Want to know the Secret? This book was written almost a century before Byrne and Oprah shared their version. The garden is only the beginning of the story of a brat, orphaned in India, who moves to huge lonely house in Yorkshire, England. It isn’t only the wind that haunts the moors, but the wails of her tyrant cousin. With the help of a local family, the two children learn to heal their bodies and minds with fresh air, exercise, and ...more
Want to know the Secret? This book was written almost a century before Byrne and Oprah shared their version. The garden is only the beginning of the story of a brat, orphaned in India, who moves to huge lonely house in Yorkshire, England. It isn’t only the wind that haunts the moors, but the wails of her tyrant cousin. With the help of a local family, the two children learn to heal their bodies and minds with fresh air, exercise, and ...more
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When my youngest daughter saw me reading this, she scoffed, "You haven't read that? I've read it AND seen the movie!" Guess I'm falling behind! When I first considered reading this (on the syllabus of a course I'm auditing) I seriously considered just not reading it and skipping the class when it would be discussed (ah! the beauties of auditing!). But I'm glad I didn't.
There's a lot of stuff going on in this text that I ended up finding fascinating. For one thing, it led me t...more
There's a lot of stuff going on in this text that I ended up finding fascinating. For one thing, it led me t...more
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bookshelves:
2008-books-read,
children-s,
classic,
everyone-loves-except-for-me,
gothic,
made-into-a-movie
Read in May, 2008
I guess I didn't miss much by not reading this book as a child. I don't really understand why it became a classic. It starts out interestingly enough with a very gothic setting. A little British girl named Mary survives a cholera epidemic in India and is sent to Yorkshire to live with her distant relatives. The author gives a vivid description of the beauty of the moors and the mysterious mansion that the girl goes to live in. The only other interesting part is really when Mary discovers the boy...more
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Read in January, 2008
English 425 Submitter’s name _Cati Howard
Book Bank Book Bank subject: _my favorite book___
Reference information:
Title The Secret Garden
Author Frances Hodgson Burnett
Publisher J.B. Linppincott Company Year 1911
# of pages 256 Genre drama
Reading level 4.5 Interest level 9-12 years old
Potential hot lava:
None to speak of except that there are references to death throughout the story. Children who have issues dealing with mor...more
Book Bank Book Bank subject: _my favorite book___
Reference information:
Title The Secret Garden
Author Frances Hodgson Burnett
Publisher J.B. Linppincott Company Year 1911
# of pages 256 Genre drama
Reading level 4.5 Interest level 9-12 years old
Potential hot lava:
None to speak of except that there are references to death throughout the story. Children who have issues dealing with mor...more
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Read in January, 1983
recommended to Rebecca by:
my Momrecommends it for: Everyone, especially young girls.
This is my favorite book, ever! My Mom made me read it as a kid, and I really didn't want to. I put it off and put it off, and finally decided to just suck it up and read it. I think it took 10 pages for me to get completely hooked.
I think I loved the book so much because it was all about bringing about life and growth through love. All the main characters are sort of "forgotten" in some way or another, and they go on this adventure when Mary finds a key to a secret, wa...more
I think I loved the book so much because it was all about bringing about life and growth through love. All the main characters are sort of "forgotten" in some way or another, and they go on this adventure when Mary finds a key to a secret, wa...more
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Read in January, 1985
Silly me, I looked through all the editions to find the one I grew up with, but had no luck. But this is what I wrote about it a few months ago:
In the third grade, I would have been hopelessly overwhelmed by my reading assignments had my father not offered to help by reading aloud every other chapter to me and having me read him the rest. We did this in the bedroom, as my mother openly complained how he made a travesty of the English language, with his Russian accent and his puttin...more
In the third grade, I would have been hopelessly overwhelmed by my reading assignments had my father not offered to help by reading aloud every other chapter to me and having me read him the rest. We did this in the bedroom, as my mother openly complained how he made a travesty of the English language, with his Russian accent and his puttin...more
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Read in January, 1994
recommends it for:
children (but if adults would want to read it too, I don't think there would be any problem)
My second classic (if I remember correctly, my first was "The Odyssey", but sadly, I can't remember the ISBN of THE book 'coz I read it when I was in Grade 3 - or was it 4? Too bad, though, 'coz I really would want to have a copy of that particular book and go through it again *sighs*). Anyway, back to the Secret Garden, I'll tell you a little "secret": I was REALLY digging for Dickon and Mary. Dickon is more sensible than Colin. More fun, too. I mean, he can tame animals, ri...more
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I was looking through Sarah Gransee's books and happened across this one. I loved this book as a child! It was one of the books I had from my mother's childhood collection, including others like The Little Princess, Alice in Wonderland, and the tales of Arabian Nights. I have such fond memories of this book, and remember very distinctly wishing for my own hidden garden. I love books like this, where I hardly remember the plot, but I remember the feel of reading the book like it was last mont...more
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I read this book about every five years or so. For me it captures the sense of secrecey that hides much more than a garden...the inner workings of a child's mind, that adults have no clue about! I am also reminded that the same is true for many adults, myself included. After reading this book, I always feel a renewed sense of commitment to getting to know poeple beyond the public surface and letting more people see the real me.
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Read in January, 1989
I love this book. This is probably the first time I realized that I could go away, find a place to hide in, and make my own. I guess this is how I found my passion.
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Read in July, 2006
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Read in November, 2007
This was one of my favorite books as a child, and I still love it. I love that Mary & Colin blossom as the garden blossoms, and that when they focus their energies on helping something else to grow, they begin to grow too. It's really a beautiful story.
Reading it again as an adult, it was a little hard to get past some of the eurocentric notions (the pure, healthy English air essentially "cures" Mary of her Indian-ness) and there's a bit of law-of-attraction rhetoric ala "...more
Reading it again as an adult, it was a little hard to get past some of the eurocentric notions (the pure, healthy English air essentially "cures" Mary of her Indian-ness) and there's a bit of law-of-attraction rhetoric ala "...more
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5 comments
Read in January, 1993
Secret Garden is one of my absolute favorite books ever. I don't even know how to describe my love of this book. Maybe because I am a bit contrary (Mary, Mary, quite contrary).
I love imaginating all of the scenes in the story: the vast moors, the lonely house, the lifeless gardens. I don't think I could relate to Mary because I didn't have a lonely childhood: I had friends and sisters and a loving family, but I did very much identify with her. Maybe I loved imagining being in that b...more
I love imaginating all of the scenes in the story: the vast moors, the lonely house, the lifeless gardens. I don't think I could relate to Mary because I didn't have a lonely childhood: I had friends and sisters and a loving family, but I did very much identify with her. Maybe I loved imagining being in that b...more
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My favorite children's book... Probably... I have many favorites, loved for many different reasons.
This was one of the first books I can remember my mother reading to me and I have read it many, many times since. I'm not sure if my love of gardens and gardening comes from the book or my love of the former ensures the appeal of the latter.
The idea of a place lost and unkempt being found, kept all to one's self, explored and nurtured until it is beautiful again has such res...more
This was one of the first books I can remember my mother reading to me and I have read it many, many times since. I'm not sure if my love of gardens and gardening comes from the book or my love of the former ensures the appeal of the latter.
The idea of a place lost and unkempt being found, kept all to one's self, explored and nurtured until it is beautiful again has such res...more
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2 comments
that if you try maybe hard or look harder youll find something interesting. mary a main character find a boy in a room locked up and hes sick but his dad wont come and see him but now he wants mary to come n see him its a interesting book if u love classics or sort of mysteries u should read it and find out more....
NOW Mary and her friends made the secret garden alive again. MARY made colin get out in the freash air and now he can see alot of things he used to be in his room f...more
NOW Mary and her friends made the secret garden alive again. MARY made colin get out in the freash air and now he can see alot of things he used to be in his room f...more
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Read in September, 2007
I can't remember how many times I've read this book. I've loved it for years. Book, movie, musical - all of 'em. Although, if I remember correctly, I saw the musical first.
Like most books that you read multiple times, I always notice something different or new in each reading. In this one, it was the sense of joy that I had when Colin first discovered Spring. And how he spoke of the Magic that pushes seeds up through the dirt, I felt that elation and understanding, and I'm not sure I...more
Like most books that you read multiple times, I always notice something different or new in each reading. In this one, it was the sense of joy that I had when Colin first discovered Spring. And how he spoke of the Magic that pushes seeds up through the dirt, I felt that elation and understanding, and I'm not sure I...more
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Missed this book as a kid. Think I liked adventure rather than saccharin fairy tales. But now I like the sweetness and good endings. I can see why it is a great book for kids. Very visual.
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