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251st out of 2,636 books
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4,869 voters
Tom's Midnight Garden
A mesmerizing tale of a boy's journey across the boundaries of reality, this Carnegie Medal winner has the appeal of such works as Indian in the Cupboard and Behind the Attic Wall. "If I were asked to name a single masterpiece of English children's literature . . . it would be this outstandingly beautiful and absorbing book".--John Rowe Townsend, author of Written for Chil...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
October 30th 1992
by Greenwillow Books
(first published 1958)
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I was surprised finding myself that I really liked this book. This is my 98th book this year and just my 2nd children's fiction. If this were not one of the children's books in the 501 Must Read Books, I would not have picked this up.
Time Slip is used brilliantly in the plot that you don't know between the two main characters, Tom or Hatty, is the ghost and who is a real human being. To give you an example, in the movie Sixth Sense, you know right away who are the ghosts because the boy charact...more
Time Slip is used brilliantly in the plot that you don't know between the two main characters, Tom or Hatty, is the ghost and who is a real human being. To give you an example, in the movie Sixth Sense, you know right away who are the ghosts because the boy charact...more
English manor homes seem to inspire a certain kind of time travel story. They are usually dream like and include a friendship across the ages. The only caveat, the protagonist from the present is usually unable to alter past events. Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce fits perfectly in this category and it's one of my favorite examples.
Tom Long, the present day (that being probably the 1950s) protagonist is sent away to his aunt and uncle's flat while his brother recovers at home from the...more
Tom Long, the present day (that being probably the 1950s) protagonist is sent away to his aunt and uncle's flat while his brother recovers at home from the...more
9 likes · like · see review
May 23, 2007
fin
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Lovers of British children's fantasy
Shelves:
fantasy-sf,
middle-grade
I read this book 10 years ago, and it still haunts me.
Tom is forced to stay with aunt and uncle for the holidays. He hates the "no-garden"-ness of their city flat, and a cranky old landlady who lives in the attic. One night, the old grandfather clock downstairs struck 13. Tom is led to open the back door, and he finds a blooming and live garden, which he learns later isn't there during the daytime.
In the garden world, time stood still for him. He befriends Hattie, a girl as lonely as he is. But...more
Tom is forced to stay with aunt and uncle for the holidays. He hates the "no-garden"-ness of their city flat, and a cranky old landlady who lives in the attic. One night, the old grandfather clock downstairs struck 13. Tom is led to open the back door, and he finds a blooming and live garden, which he learns later isn't there during the daytime.
In the garden world, time stood still for him. He befriends Hattie, a girl as lonely as he is. But...more
9 likes · like · see review
I read this as a kid but all I really remembered about it was that I liked it. It's not a flashy tale, and a bit old-fashioned. I think that's part of it's charm, but it may be a turn-off for some of today's kids. A bit like A Secret Garden with an E. Nesbit-lite twist.
Although the title character is a boy I think girls may appreciate this story more than boys. Tom's magical adventures are limited to the kinds of things kids do when they have a wonderful old-fashioned garden to play in.
The mai...more
Although the title character is a boy I think girls may appreciate this story more than boys. Tom's magical adventures are limited to the kinds of things kids do when they have a wonderful old-fashioned garden to play in.
The mai...more
I saw Tom's Midnight Garden as a film on TV a couple of years ago. Well...actually I only got to see half of it as I started watching it too late. I was totally charmed and knew I had to get the book of the same name by Philippa Pearce. I have not been disappointed. This is a wonderful story which ranks up there with classics like Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden and others.
Tom is not happy as he has to go stay with Aunt Gwen and Uncle Alan in their apartment because his brother Peter has...more
Tom is not happy as he has to go stay with Aunt Gwen and Uncle Alan in their apartment because his brother Peter has...more
1 like · like · see review
I remember avidly watching the Children's BBC adaptation of TOM'S MIDNIGHT GARDEN when I was around Tom's age myself - this would have been in 1990 or so. I absolutely loved the series, but to my chagrin I never read the book on which it was based - until now.
I'd always assumed that this was a modern book but on checking the details I found it was written in 1958 - this explains how Pearce has a natural way with words and how she recaptures the same magic of childhood as Enid Blyton did. In fact...more
I'd always assumed that this was a modern book but on checking the details I found it was written in 1958 - this explains how Pearce has a natural way with words and how she recaptures the same magic of childhood as Enid Blyton did. In fact...more
3 likes · like · see review
Actually, I studied it for school; I guess it's pretty nice. Got a bit of magic in it, and is, all in all, a pretty decent book. I read it before school actually began; wanted to judge it myself, because once school starts they'll make it as boring as can be.
1 like · like · see review
I found that I rather enjoyed this tale of a boy escaping from exile at an aunt's house into a garden 70 years in the past. It does shift back and forth a little unexpectedly in time, but not to such a degree that it is confusing. I suppose what I liked most was the subtle magic of the piece, not being high fantasy but rather realistic with just the time travel. The time travel elements appear to be well thought out, especially in regards to how the main character, Tom, interacts with the world...more
It's very British, and has some moments of poignancy, but is a little too slow and introspective to really like.
Tom is sent to live with his aunt and uncle one day when his brother gets measles and needs to be quarantined. He dislikes it intensely, being an outdoors sort of boy moved into a rather dull flat. One day, the broken clock in the hallway strikes thirteen, and he finds a door that opens into a mysterious garden. It's apparent that it is the past, and he soon befriends a young, lonely g...more
Tom is sent to live with his aunt and uncle one day when his brother gets measles and needs to be quarantined. He dislikes it intensely, being an outdoors sort of boy moved into a rather dull flat. One day, the broken clock in the hallway strikes thirteen, and he finds a door that opens into a mysterious garden. It's apparent that it is the past, and he soon befriends a young, lonely g...more
I didn't read this book as a youngster but remembered seeing the 70s TV version. I didn't really know what to expect, but as I enjoy reading classic children's literature I thought I'd get it.
It really is an incredible book and thoroughly deserves all the accolades that have been heaped upon it. I found the quality of the writing to be taut and extremely controlled, the author knows exactly how to conjure scenes for full impact. One of the best things about this book are the numerous small vigne...more
It really is an incredible book and thoroughly deserves all the accolades that have been heaped upon it. I found the quality of the writing to be taut and extremely controlled, the author knows exactly how to conjure scenes for full impact. One of the best things about this book are the numerous small vigne...more
I remember being read this book as a class while in Year 6. I recently came across it again while on my PGCE placement because one of the girls in my class is currently reading it. The story follows a young boy, Tom, who is sent to spend the Summer with his Aunt. Tom is less than enthusiastic about this and boredom sets in very early on his visit. Struggling to fall asleep one night, Tom is laying awake wishing he had something to do and some people his age to enjoy the holidays with. Still bore...more
Tom is forced to stay with aunt and uncle for the holidays. He hates the fact there is no garden (which I’m sure children can relate to) which he had to leave behind for the summer while his brother recovers.
I did find this novel to be an enchanting story about a boy who travels back in time when he should be in bed, again another part of the story which children can relate to and find exciting.
Tom finds a doorway to a magic garden to the past where he meets Hatty, a young girl. This is where th...more
I did find this novel to be an enchanting story about a boy who travels back in time when he should be in bed, again another part of the story which children can relate to and find exciting.
Tom finds a doorway to a magic garden to the past where he meets Hatty, a young girl. This is where th...more
Stories that have a bit of intrigue and mystery always get my attention and the way this tale comes together at the end is brilliant. Lonely Tom has been sent to stay with his aunt and uncle and there are no other children there, and not even a garden to play in. But at night incredible things start happening when the clock strikes thirteen. Tom goes to investigate and discovers a garden that only appears at night. Better still, in the garden there is a girl that he befriends and plays with.
Str...more
Str...more
First published in 1958 and made into a rather disappointing film adaptation, I loved this book as a youngster. I think my parents read it to me and, looking at it now, I can appreciate that the language and sentence structure does not have the finesse of later writers.
It is a story of Tom, who stays with his aunt and uncle in an old house converted into flats with no garden. However, when the grandfather clock in the hall strikes thirteen in the middle of the night, Tom is launched into the pa...more
It is a story of Tom, who stays with his aunt and uncle in an old house converted into flats with no garden. However, when the grandfather clock in the hall strikes thirteen in the middle of the night, Tom is launched into the pa...more
Strangely, though it was published in 1958, I don't remember ever reading this as a child. I only read it now in preparation for the Open University's children's literature course, but I throughly enjoyed it. Though it's low key and not all that much happens -- Tom visits the beautiful garden that only appears after midnight and plays with the girl he meets there -- it had a strong narrative pull and I kept wanting to read on.
At the time the book was published, the present day story would have...more
At the time the book was published, the present day story would have...more
I had to read this for my upcoming Open University course and I loved it. I am sure I read it as a child, although I hadn't really remembered much of it. It was magical, fun and I ate it up with delight! The story follows a boy called Tom whose brother gets the measles. To protect him, his parents ship him off to his aunt and uncle's flat where he has to stay in doors in quarantine.
His despair at staying away from his brother for the summer, with no garden to play in and no trees to climb, is qu...more
His despair at staying away from his brother for the summer, with no garden to play in and no trees to climb, is qu...more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1695975...
I can't quite believe that I managed to reach the age of nearly 44 without having read this brilliant children's fantasy, though I had fond if vague memories of Dorothea Brooking's 1974 BBC adaptation. Tom, sent to stay with his aunt and uncle after his brother develops measles, discovers that when the clock in the hall strikes thirteen in the middle of the night he is able to visit the garden as it was in the past, and makes friends with Hattie who lives...more
I can't quite believe that I managed to reach the age of nearly 44 without having read this brilliant children's fantasy, though I had fond if vague memories of Dorothea Brooking's 1974 BBC adaptation. Tom, sent to stay with his aunt and uncle after his brother develops measles, discovers that when the clock in the hall strikes thirteen in the middle of the night he is able to visit the garden as it was in the past, and makes friends with Hattie who lives...more
1 like · like · see review
A magical story that plays on the nature of Time. When his brother comes down with measles, Tom is sent to his Aunt's poky flat. He is understandably annoyed - it's the start of the Summer Holidays and there is nothing to do, not even a garden. There is, however, an old Grandfather clock which never seems to strike the right hour. One night, it strikes thirteen times and when Tom goes downstairs he finds a magical midnight garden. He meets a girl called Hatty and spends many nights happily explo...more
Philippa Pearce brings the past alive by turning it into the present in this magical time-shift fantasy about a young boy named Tom Long.
Tom is placed in quarantine for measles and is sent to live with his childless aunt and uncle for a few weeks. They live in an apartment which is part of an old converted house. A grandfather clock stands in the communal hallway of the large house and old Mrs. Bartholomew, the landlady, comes down from her top floor apartment to wind the clock each week. Tom is...more
Tom is placed in quarantine for measles and is sent to live with his childless aunt and uncle for a few weeks. They live in an apartment which is part of an old converted house. A grandfather clock stands in the communal hallway of the large house and old Mrs. Bartholomew, the landlady, comes down from her top floor apartment to wind the clock each week. Tom is...more
I was not, as a rule, a huge fan of sad book when I was a child, but I remember both loving Tom's Midnight Garden and finding it heartbreaking. Sometimes I'm reluctant to reread something that gave me so much pleasure as a child, because I want to hold on to that initial experience. But the rereading was well worth it. It is a story about the power of memory, the relentless passage of time, and the fleeting but intense beauty of the world and childhood. One might think that these are not themes...more
A lot of times I read 'Hatty' as 'Harry', probably because of the latter's association with the name Tom who is the main character here. Or it might be that it is more likely for Tom to be friends with a boy rather than a girl. Well, this is just an odd observation I have. Odd as it is, it has nothing to do with how I liked and enjoyed this children's story, especially how it played out in the end.
I'd say that though it was to be expected, the revelation towards the end still caught me by surpr...more
I'd say that though it was to be expected, the revelation towards the end still caught me by surpr...more
When I think about this book, I get the same sort of feeling as Tom at the beginning of the story -- a little stifled, restless, too full of food. It's quite odd! Anyway, that somewhat colours my memories of this book, making it a bit less wondrous than perhaps it should be. It's a sweet story, ultimately, about mutual loneliness and need of companionship reaching right across time and bringing too lonely children together. It never gets too saccharine, though -- perhaps just slightly, at the en...more
An enchanting story about a boy who travels back in time when he should be in bed.
That alone has all the right thrills of naughtiness to it, but his adventures with Hattie, the young girl who is one of only two people who can see him, are the beating heart of the tale.
Hattie presumes him to be a ghost and the country raised gardener thinks him a godless demon spirit, bent on doing Hattie harm.
As the nights wear on, Tom slowly discovers the truth about where he is going every night and most impor...more
That alone has all the right thrills of naughtiness to it, but his adventures with Hattie, the young girl who is one of only two people who can see him, are the beating heart of the tale.
Hattie presumes him to be a ghost and the country raised gardener thinks him a godless demon spirit, bent on doing Hattie harm.
As the nights wear on, Tom slowly discovers the truth about where he is going every night and most impor...more
6 likes · like · see review
A curious classic of YA fiction. Tom is quarantined because of his brother's illness, back in the old days when quarantining was necessary, and billeted with his Aunt and Uncle, who are childless and clueless when it comes to raising boys. Tom copes by wandering out into a garden at night, when he can't sleep, a garden that seems only to exist at night.
The story of what he finds there is a good one, and full of human interest, but YA fiction, like any genre, has to have internal consistency, an...more
The story of what he finds there is a good one, and full of human interest, but YA fiction, like any genre, has to have internal consistency, an...more
I remember reading this as a child and but I didn’t really remember much about it. This magical stories tells the tale of a boy named Tom who is sent to stay with his aunt and uncle for a period of time. Tom is not happy about having to stay cooped up in a small apartment, and then everything changes. Tom finds a doorway to a magic garden to the past where he meets Hatty, a young girl. It is soon clear that Hattie lives in a different time to Tom and yet depite this, their friendship grows.Each...more
I first read this book when I was ten years old. On my primary school booklist, next to the title I wrote, "Unexciting. Most boring book I've ever read."
The prospect of rereading this book for my children's literature course was not thrilling.
However, this time (11 years later) I could not put it down. I've fallen head over heels in love with this book, and feel like I'm right there with Tom amongst the asparagus beds! This book contains beautiful and universal themes of innocence to experience...more
The prospect of rereading this book for my children's literature course was not thrilling.
However, this time (11 years later) I could not put it down. I've fallen head over heels in love with this book, and feel like I'm right there with Tom amongst the asparagus beds! This book contains beautiful and universal themes of innocence to experience...more
When Tom Long's brother Peter gets measles, Tom is sent to stay with his Uncle Alan and Aunt Gwen in a flat with no garden and an elderly and reclusive landlady, Mrs Bartholomew, living upstairs. Because he may be infectious he is not allowed out to play, and feels lonely. Without exercise he is less sleepy at night and when he hears the communal grandfather clock strangely strike 13, he investigates and finds the small back yard is now a large sunlit garden. Here he meets another lonely child c...more
1958 Carnegie Medal winner features Tom Long who is is angry over being sent away for the Summer when his younger brother Peter catches the measles. Tom dislikes his aunt and uncle's flat, with no garden to explore and a cranky land-lady.
One night he comes to explore downstairs around midnight and opens the backdoor to discover a beautiful garden. He explores it each night and meets and becomes friends with Hatty, who seems old-fashioned. He suspects she is a ghost and tries during the day to d...more
One night he comes to explore downstairs around midnight and opens the backdoor to discover a beautiful garden. He explores it each night and meets and becomes friends with Hatty, who seems old-fashioned. He suspects she is a ghost and tries during the day to d...more
My edition was light green, I remember the image of the grandfather clock on the cover.
I thought this was a sequel to the Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This was even better, and I said as much in a book report on SG. I figured it out later.
I was 10 , ok.
(It was still better.)
Reflectively this may have been where I realized that I could like a book about a boy as much or more than a book about a girl. I learned to identify with the protagonist regardless of gender.
Later, I took an En...more
I thought this was a sequel to the Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This was even better, and I said as much in a book report on SG. I figured it out later.
I was 10 , ok.
(It was still better.)
Reflectively this may have been where I realized that I could like a book about a boy as much or more than a book about a girl. I learned to identify with the protagonist regardless of gender.
Later, I took an En...more
This book gets quoted fairly regularly by folks who like to talk about books written for youth, and classic ones at that. I was curious, so I read it.
No synopsis here (as with all my reviews!) -- If you like gardens, contemplative books, a dash of mystery and time travel; if you're able to relate to the loneliness of childhood and see the world as a place that has both dream time and that other time we call "real," I suppose if you're a quite sort of person who likes a quiet sort of book, you m...more
No synopsis here (as with all my reviews!) -- If you like gardens, contemplative books, a dash of mystery and time travel; if you're able to relate to the loneliness of childhood and see the world as a place that has both dream time and that other time we call "real," I suppose if you're a quite sort of person who likes a quiet sort of book, you m...more
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Philippa Pearce was one of the twentieth century’s greatest children’s writers. Her books include Tom’s Midnight Garden, winner of the Carnegie Medal; The Squirrel Wife, illustrated by Wayne Anderson; and A Finder’s Magic, created for her two grandsons and illustrated by their other grandmother, Helen Craig. Philippa Pearce died in 2006.
More about Philippa Pearce...
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“Nothing stands still, except in our memory.”
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11 people liked it
“Good-bye, Mrs Bartholemew," said tom, shaking hands with stiff politeness; "and thank you very much for having me."
"I shall look forward to our meeting again," said Mrs Bartholemew, equally primly.
Tom went slowly down the attic stairs. Then, at the bottom, he hesitated: he turned impulsively and ran up again - two at a time - to where Hatty Bartholemew still stood...
Afterwards, Aunt Gwen tried to describe to her husband that second parting between them. "He ran up to her, and they hugged each other as if they had known each other for years and years, instead of only having met for the first time this morning. There was something else, too, Alan, although I know you'll say it sounds even more absurd...Of course, Mrs Bartholemew's such a shrunken little old woman, she's hardly bigger than Tom; anyway: but, you know, he put his arms right round her and he hugged her good-bye as if she were a little girl.”
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4 people liked it
More quotes…
"I shall look forward to our meeting again," said Mrs Bartholemew, equally primly.
Tom went slowly down the attic stairs. Then, at the bottom, he hesitated: he turned impulsively and ran up again - two at a time - to where Hatty Bartholemew still stood...
Afterwards, Aunt Gwen tried to describe to her husband that second parting between them. "He ran up to her, and they hugged each other as if they had known each other for years and years, instead of only having met for the first time this morning. There was something else, too, Alan, although I know you'll say it sounds even more absurd...Of course, Mrs Bartholemew's such a shrunken little old woman, she's hardly bigger than Tom; anyway: but, you know, he put his arms right round her and he hugged her good-bye as if she were a little girl.”
Mar 15, 2013 12:30pm
Lesley, I'll check that out. Thanks! :)
Apr 07, 2013 02:41pm