The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sandra M. Gilbert (Afterword)

From Barnes & Noble

Since 1911, the The Secret Garden has charmed readers of successive generations. Now in this wonderfully illustrated volume, another generation can delight in the story of Mary Lennox--an unattractive, unloved little girl, sent to live at Misselthwaite Manor on the Yorkshire Moors after her parents' death. There, along with her invalid cousin Colin, she is drawn into a magical world of the secret garden--where Mary and Colin are transformed by the beauty they find there. Ages 8-14.

From the Publisher

The All Aboard Reading series features stories that capture beginning readers' imagination while developing their vocabulary and reading comprehension. The Picture Readers, appropriate for preschoolers, combine a very simple text with rebuses. Flash cards bound in the book help make the transition from the rebus to the printed word. As the levels progress, the stories get longer, and the print size gets smaller, preparing readers for longer books with chapters. All the books are illustrated in full color, and engage a child's curiosity with a range of topics from science to sports, history, and fantasy. Grades 2 - Grade 4.

Four to Fourteen

[Neglected Colin] lives the life of a spoilt and incurable invalid until the arrival of an orphaned cousin. The two children secretly combine to restore his mother's locked garden and Colin to health and his father's affection.

Publishers Weekly

A new series, "Storytime Classics," introduces four timeless stories retold by Janet Allison Brown to the picture-book crowd. Full-bleed and spot illustrations carry the stories, with text in large type In The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, both by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illus. by Graham Rust, the heroines' kind-heartedness and perserverence shines through. Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger embark on their adventures in The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, illus. by Joanne Moss, and in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, illus. by Dinah Dryhurst, readers meet the four March sisters. (June) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Soothing and mellifluous, native Briton Bailey's voice proves an excellent instrument for polishing up a new edition of Burnett's story. Bratty and spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned when her parents fall victim to a cholera outbreak in India. As a result, Mary becomes the ward of an uncle in England she has never met. As she hesitantly tries to carve a new life for herself at imposing and secluded Misselthwaite Manor, Mary befriends a high-spirited boy named Dickon and investigates a secret garden on the Manor grounds. She also discovers a sickly young cousin, Colin, who has been shut away in a hidden Manor room. Together Mary and Dickon help Colin blossom, and in the process Mary finds her identity and melts the heart of her emotionally distant uncle. Bailey makes fluid transitions between the voices and accents of various characters, from terse Mrs. Medlock and surly groundskeeper Ben to chipper housemaid Martha. And most enjoyably, she gives Mary a believably childlike voice. A brief biography of the author is included in an introduction. Ages 6-12. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Janet Allison Brown retells the story of the secret garden in this simplified and abridged text of the classic novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The integrity of the story line has been kept but the text has been shortened to keep the attention of younger children. Mary Lennox is a young girl who is sent to live with her uncle when her parents die. She discovers a mysterious hidden garden and uses that garden to teach her cousin to walk. Her uncle, who is out of town, returns to find happiness once again in his home. The lesson taught is that happiness can be found in one's own backyard. The illustrations in this picture book are lifelike and intriguing. This version will become a favorite of younger children, and a perfect way to introduce the classic story to younger readers. 2001, Penguin, $5.99. Ages 5 to 8. Reviewer:Nicole Peterson

Children's Literature

Ten year old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden. This story has never lost its charm; delicate color work and pencil drawings provide nostalgic representations of another time.1993 (orig.)

Children's Literature

Exquisite ink and watercolor illustrations grace this beautiful edition of the classic story of two children who are given all the material goods available. A young girl, Mary, who has foot-stomping tantrums when she does not get her way, and a young lad, Colin, who has been convinced he is ill and takes out his ill humor on those around him, are thrown together, and their lives are forever changed. Mary, who has come to live with relatives after the death of her parents, explores the mysteries of Misselthwaite Manor, the estate which is the home of her Uncle Archibald Craven and his son, Colin. She is befriended by Dickon, the brother of her housemaid and comes to share his love of nature. She finds the key to a secret garden on the estate, and Dickon teaches her how to tend a garden. Both she and Colin bloom right along with the flowers. The tale is magical, mystical, and idealistic. Many of the children who read it will long for a special, hidden-away spot of their own, a longing that will remain with them even as some details of the story may fade. Reviewer: Carolyn Mott Ford

School Library Journal

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

School Library Journal

(Gr 3-Up) Burnett's classic story of a disagreeable and self-centered little girl and her equally disagreeable invalid cousin is as real and wise and enthralling now as it was when it was first written over 75 years ago. The strength of her characterizations pulls readers into the story, and the depth inherent in the seemingly simple plot continues to make this sometimes forgotten story as vital to the maturation of young readers as Tom Sawyer and Little Women. Hague's illustrations enhance the story beautifully, capturing as they do, both the old-fashioned and timeless quality of the tale. The charm, clarity, and muted tones of Hague's paintings add dimension to each part of the tale. A reissue of an old classic to be treasured by a new generation of children (and their parents)! Constance A. Mellon, Department of Library & Information Studies, East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-Originally published in 1911, the story of Mary Lennox's transformation from impudent orphan to compassionate friend in the forbidden garden of Misselthwaite Manor has been recorded for a new generation to enjoy. Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic is done justice by the vocal talents of Josephine Bailey. From the start, the narrator's lilting English accent will capture students' attention, but it is her vocal characterizations that will hold it. Abundant dialogue is enhanced with the authentic-sounding broad Yorkshire of the brusque Mrs. Medlock, the talkative Martha, and the crotchety old Ben, contrasted with Mary's precise and proper English. Bailey effortlessly captures the innocence of the young and the world-weariness of the old, while moving seamlessly between the two. There are no sound effects, and they are not needed. The overall aural quality is excellent. While the length of the production may initially scare off some listeners, those who persevere will be rewarded with a rich literary experience.- Leigh Ann Rumsey, Penn Yan Academy, NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

USA Today - Allen Cadwallader

Wanda McCaddon's obvious love of the characters and her authentic British accents—the gentrified and broad Yorkshire—turn this into a family listening delight.

Kirkus Reviews

In this bad version of a bad idea, the richly developed classic novel has been squeezed into the picture-book format. Resembling the bald summary of an opera plot, the story in its reduced state is all but a cliche: An orphaned girl finds a neglected garden and a neglected cousin and restores them both with the aid of the housemaid's young brother. Collier's full-color paintings take advantage of the opportunities for flora and fauna as the garden responds to cultivation and to the turning seasons, but the children's figures seem pasted into the space, and the scenes lack warmth. (Picture book. 4-8)

Product Details

• ISBN: 0451528832
  
• ISBN-13: 9780451528834
• Format: Mass Market Paperback, 288pp
• Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
• Pub. Date: July 2003
• Edition Description: Reissue
• Sales Rank: 12,422

• Table of Contents
• Read an Excerpt

Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER I
There Is No One Left

When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too. She had a little thin face and a little thin body, thin light hair and a sour expression. Her hair was yellow, and her face was yellow because she had been born in India and had always been ill in one way or another. Her father had held a position under the English Government and had always been busy and ill himself, and her mother had been a great beauty who cared only to go to parties and amuse herself with gay people. She had not wanted a little girl at all, and when Mary was born she handed her over to the care of an Ayah, who was made to understand that if she wished to please the Mem Sahib she must keep the child out of sight as much as possible. So when she was a sickly, fretful, ugly little baby she was kept out of the way, and when she became a sickly, fretful, toddling thing she was kept out of the way also. She never remembered seeing familiarly anything but the dark faces of her Ayah and the other native servants, and as they always obeyed her and gave her her own way in everything, because the Mem Sahib would be angry if she was disturbed by her crying, by the time she was six years old she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived. The young English governess who came to teach her to read and write disliked her so much that she gave up her place in three months, and when other governesses came to try to fill it they always went away in a shorter time than the first one. So if Mary had not chosen to really want to know how to read books she wouldnever have learned her letters at all.

One frightfully hot morning, when she was about nine years old, she awakened feeling very cross, and she became crosser still when she saw that the servant who stood by her bedside was not her Ayah.

“Why did you come?” she said to the strange woman. “I will not let you stay. Send my Ayah to me.”

The woman looked frightened, but she only stammered that the Ayah could not come and when Mary threw herself into a passion and beat and kicked her, she looked only more frightened and repeated that it was not possible for the Ayah to come to Missie Sahib.

There was something mysterious in the air that morning. Nothing was done in its regular order and several of the native servants seemed missing, while those whom Mary saw slunk or hurried about with ashy and scared faces. But no one would tell her anything and her Ayah did not come. She was actually left alone as the morning went on, and at last she wandered out into the garden and began to play by herself under a tree near the veranda. She pretended that she was making a flower-bed, and she stuck big scarlet hibiscus blossoms into little heaps of earth, all the time growing more and more angry and muttering to herself the things she would say and the names she would call Saidie when she returned.

“Pig! Pig! Daughter of Pigs!” she said, because to call a native a pig is the worst insult of all.

She was grinding her teeth and saying this over and over again when she heard her mother come out on the veranda with some one. She was with a fair young man and they stood talking together in low strange voices. Mary knew the fair young man who looked like a boy. She had heard that he was a very young officer who had just come from England. The child stared at him, but she stared most at her mother. She always did this when she had a chance to see her, because the Mem Sahib—Mary used to call her that oftener than anything else—was such a tall, slim, pretty person and wore such lovely clothes. Her hair was like curly silk and she had a delicate little nose which seemed to be disdaining things, and she had large laughing eyes. All her clothes were thin and floating, and Mary said they were “full of lace.” They looked fuller of lace than ever this morning, but her eyes were not laughing at all. They were large and scared and lifted imploringly to the fair boy officer’s face.

“Is it so very bad? Oh, is it?” Mary heard her say.

“Awfully,” the young man answered in a trembling voice. “Awfully, Mrs. Lennox. You ought to have gone to the hills two weeks ago.”

The Mem Sahib wrung her hands.

“Oh, I know I ought!” she cried. “I only stayed to go to that silly dinner party. What a fool I was!”

At that very moment such a loud sound of wailing broke out from the servants’ quarters that she clutched the young man’s arm, and Mary stood shivering from head to foot. The wailing grew wilder and wilder.

“What is it? What is it?” Mrs. Lennox gasped.

“Some one has died,” answered the boy officer. “You did not say it had broken out among your servants.”

“I did not know!” the Mem Sahib cried. “Come with me! Come with me!” and she turned and ran into the house.

After that appalling things happened, and the mysteriousness of the morning was explained to Mary. The cholera had broken out in its most fatal form and people were dying like flies. The Ayah had been taken ill in the night, and it was because she had just died that the servants had wailed in the huts. Before the next day three other servants were dead and others had run away in terror. There was panic on every side, and dying people in all the bungalows.

During the confusion and bewilderment of the second day Mary hid herself in the nursery and was forgotten by every one. Nobody thought of her, nobody wanted her, and strange things happened of which she knew nothing. Mary alternately cried and slept through the hours. She only knew that people were ill and that she heard mysterious and frightening sounds. Once she crept into the dining-room and found it empty, though a partly finished meal was on the table and chairs and plates looked as if they had been hastily pushed back when the diners rose suddenly for some reason. The child ate some fruit and biscuits, and being thirsty she drank a glass of wine which stood nearly filled. It was sweet, and she did not know how strong it was. Very soon it made her intensely drowsy, and she went back to her nursery and shut herself in again, frightened by cries she heard in the huts and by the hurrying sound of feet. The wine made her so sleepy that she could scarcely keep her eyes open and she lay down on her bed and knew nothing more for a long time.

Many things happened during the hours in which she slept so heavily, but she was not disturbed by the wails and the sound of things being carried in and out of the bungalow.

When she awakened she lay and stared at the wall. The house was perfectly still. She had never known it to be so silent before. She heard neither voices nor footsteps, and wondered if everybody had got well of the cholera and all the trouble was over. She wondered also who would take care of her now her Ayah was dead. There would be a new Ayah, and perhaps she would know some new stories. Mary had been rather tired of the old ones. She did not cry because her nurse had died. She was not an affectionate child and had never cared much for any one. The noise and hurrying about and wailing over the cholera had frightened her, and she had been angry because no one seemed to remember that she was alive. Every one was too panic-stricken to think of a little girl no one was fond of. When people had the cholera it seemed that they remembered nothing but themselves. But if every one had got well again, surely some one would remember and come to look for her.

But no one came, and as she lay waiting the house seemed to grow more and more silent. She heard something rustling on the matting and when she looked down she saw a little snake gliding along and watching her with eyes like jewels. She was not frightened, because he was a harmless little thing who would not hurt her and he seemed in a hurry to get out of the room. He slipped under the door as she watched him.

“How queer and quiet it is,” she said. “It sounds as if there was no one in the bungalow but me and the snake.”

Almost the next minute she heard footsteps in the compound, and then on the veranda. They were men’s footsteps, and the men entered the bungalow and talked in low voices. No one went to meet or speak to them and they seemed to open doors and look into rooms.

“What desolation!” she heard one voice say. “That pretty, pretty woman! I suppose the child, too. I heard there was a child, though no one ever saw her.”

Mary was standing in the middle of the nursery when they opened the door a few minutes later. She looked an ugly, cross little thing and was frowning because she was beginning to be hungry and feel disgracefully neglected. The first man who came in was a large officer she had once seen talking to her father. He looked tired and troubled, but when he saw her he was so startled that he almost jumped back.

“Barney!” he cried out. “There is a child here! A child alone! In a place like this! Mercy on us, who is she!”

“I am Mary Lennox,” the little girl said, drawing herself up stiffly. She thought the man was very rude to call her father’s bungalow “A place like this!” “I fell asleep when every one had the cholera and I have only just wakened up. Why does nobody come?”

“It is the child no one ever saw!” exclaimed the man, turning to his companions. “She has actually been forgotten!”

“Why was I forgotten?” Mary said, stamping her foot. “Why does nobody come?”

The young man whose name was Barney looked at her very sadly. Mary even thought she saw him wink his eyes as if to wink tears away.

“Poor little kid!” he said. “There is nobody left to come.”

It was in that strange and sudden way that Mary found out that she had neither father nor mother left; that they had died and been carried away in the night, and that the few native servants who had not died also had left the house as quickly as they could get out of it, none of them even remembering that there was a Missie Sahib. That was why the place was so quiet. It was true that there was no one in the bungalow but herself and the little rustling snake.