Module 2: (August 30-September 5)Burnett, F.H. (1911). The Secret Garden. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Summary: When spoiled Mary Lennox is orphaned by a cholera outbreak in India in the early 1900s, she must move to the moors of Yorkshire, England to live with her mysterious uncle. Once there, she sulks, alone and friendless, until she stumbles on a door to a “secret garden.” She slowly grows to love her new home, and befriends a poor neighbor boy and an equally spoiled, invalid cousin. The three discover the key to the secret garden and as they tend the garden discover the true meanings of life, friendship, and love.
My Impressions: I somehow got through my childhood without reading this book, and honestly I’m not sure many children today would still love this story as they might have in the past. I think we all like the idea of finding a secret door to a magical land, but the secret garden is no Narnia. The story is still sweet though, and I have always loved books with that “gothic” flair to them. Girls that like to read the Little House on the Prairie series, or the Anne of Green Gables books would probably love this book and its complicated heroine as well.
Reviews: “Few children's classics can match the charm and originality of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, the unforgettable story of sullen, sulky Mary Lennox, ‘the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.’ When a cholera epidemic leaves her as an orphan, Mary is sent to England to live with her reclusive uncle, Archibald Craven, at Misselthwaite Manor. Unloved and unloving, Mary wanders the desolate moors until one day she chances upon the door of a secret garden. What follows is one of the most beautiful tales of transformation in children's literature… A unique blend of realism and magic, The Secret Garden remains a moving expression of every child's need to nurture and be nurtured, a story that has captured for all time the rare and enchanted world of childhood.”—Bowker’s Books in Print. http://libproxy.library.unt.edu:2548/merge_shared/details/RecordDetails.asp?item_uid=81597972&viewItemIndex=0&navPage=1&FullText=&BipAlertQueryString=&BipAlertDisplayQText=
Library Use: As I mentioned above, this book might be paired well with the Little House on the Prairie series or the Anne of Green Gables books, as well as Burnett’s A Little Princess into a display of historical fiction books with strong female characters. This would also be a good book for those parents that come into the library and ask specifically for some “wholesome” books for their daughters to read.
Image retrieved from: http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Garden-Frances-Hodgson-Burnett/dp/0763647322/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290836015&sr=1-5
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