The Secret Garden (Illustrated by Charles Robinson) Paperback – Illustrated, January 4, 2016

Loved reading this story again as an adult and the pictures were stunning! I loved that some of them were animated. Such a fun way to update a timeless story. Love heals the soul.

I remember my grade school teacher reading this book to us, and I read it to my 5th grade students. It's a tale of children in a mansion who share a great secret. This edition is unabridged and beautifully illustrated with interactive elements throughout. It truly has the appearance of the period in which the story is set. I highly recommend it for parent-child sharing or for any child who loves a mystery and adventure.

You know you've got a good book on your hands when you read it in great heaping helpings until you feel woozy and sick, and you still want more. I sat down to read this book and suddenly had chewed up almost a hundred pages and felt quite spin-headed, and later that day I read fifty more pages because I just couldn't get enough. *That* is a good book, my friends.The story concerns one Mary Lennox, a ten-year-old British girl who grows up in India and loses her parents to a cholera epidemic. She is shipped off to England to live with her uncle, whose wife died ten years ago. The wife had an accident and died, and the uncle is still broken-hearted and has retreated from the world. Mary, a contrary and difficult child, slowly comes to life in her new surroundings and makes friends among the servants and their families and with the uncle's own son, a sickly boy named Colin. Colin has all but given up the will to live, and it falls to Mary to wean him off his pessimism and bring him back to life, which process takes up the bulk of the book.The writing style of this book is fluid and graceful, its vocabulary sophisticated without being difficult. It is an engrossing story about a little girl with some room for improvement, who slowly learns to embrace life and improves for doing so. I have met people who didn't like Mary that much, but I enjoyed her company throughout the book and found it hard to let her go at the end. Her friends are likewise engaging; *all* the central characters are well realized and lively, and the dialogue flows by naturally and reveals the characters well. Though this book was first published over a hundred years ago it reads easily to the modern ear, and there is much here for modern readers to enjoy.

Despite being a voracious reader, there are some books considered "children's classics" that I have never read. I decided to rectify this recently by picking up "The Secret Garden." I was somewhat familiar with the story, as I'd watched a film adaptation of the story at one point, but am fully aware that books and their movies can often be vastly different. So though I could predict certain things about the story as I read, I still found it an enjoyable read... even if it isn't my favorite book, and certain elements felt strange in their inclusion, especially towards the end."The Secret Garden" follows Mary, a spoiled and unlikable young girl and the daughter of a British officer living in India. When her parents die of a terrible sickness, she's shuttled off to England to live with a reclusive uncle, and finds herself lost and alone in the gloomy manor. But as she sets out to explore her new home and make sense of this strange new land, she discovers the titular secret garden -- a garden that has been locked up since her aunt died in a tragic accident ten years ago. Enchanted by the garden, Mary sets out to tend it and bring it back to life, aided by a grouchy gardener, a soft-hearted animal-loving boy named Dickon... and Colin, a cousin who has been locked inside all his life and treated like an invalid. The garden turns out to be just the thing both Mary and Colin need to revitalize themselves... and it just may finally bring healing to a family long broken by tragedy..."The Secret Garden" is an enchanting novel, told with an almost fairy-tale-like language that evokes the sights, sounds, and smells of the English moors and gardens and their inhabitants. The writing style is lovely, and paints clear pictures in the mind. The heavy Yorkshire accents of certain characters can be tricky at times, but I managed anyhow. And while Dickon as a character feels a little too good to be true, almost straying into Mary-Sue territory, it's nice to see Mary and Colin develop as the book goes in, gaining confidence in themselves and shedding some of the selfishness and bad temper their sheltered lives have given them.The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that the book strays into a weird fantasy/magical-realism realm toward the end, which I feel wasn't foreshadowed very well. I love fantasy and don't mind magical realism, but it felt out of place here, especially with Colin going on about studying "magic" while at the same time declaring he wants to be a scientist. It just felt odd to me, and while it might be a product of its time (this book IS over a century old), it did taint my enjoyment somewhat.Still, complaints aside, I can easily see why "The Secret Garden" enjoys a reputation as a children's classic. It's not the best children's novel I've ever read, but I enjoyed it, and am glad I gave it a chance. Perhaps I'll pick up the author's other classic, "A Little Princess," sometime in the near future...

This is such a a great way to introduce a kid to classic books! It would make a wonderful gift, too.

Worth the time to read. Impossible to not have one’s own childhood come to mind, both good and bad. One is almost healed from reading such a story of illness to health and the promise of a good future.

What an amazing heart warming story about two young people who were very spoiled and had everything temporal they needed but were the poorest children in heart. The 90s movie was my favorite as a child but I never knew why besides the way it made me feel. I have felt an urging to read this book with my children (13, 10, and 7) and I’m so very glad I did. We almost all know the basic story, spoiled girl, comes across a secret garden at her new home after losing her parents, meets her secret cousin and they grow together. The story was just beautiful though and warmed my heart and also gave my children warm feelings. I hope they feel a yearning for this story as they grow older the way I did. I hope it inspires them as we grow our own garden (looking back, I’m sure this is why I’ve wanted so greatly to grow my own beautiful flowers and vegetable garden because of this beautiful story). It has all come together for me though learning about the Well-Educated Heart philosophy and trying to warm our hearts through beautiful stories, art, and music. This story absolutely has a moral and we see a dramatic growth in characters, this isn’t as common as it used to be. The full story was magical and inspirational. If you haven’t read this classic, go read it right now! It will warm your heart and make you want to be a better person.

The media could not be loaded.  A little girl who feels alone and is sent somewhere, where she has to establish new connections. A mysterious setting, characters who must overcome obstacles and the power of friendship. I didn’t want to put any spoilers but there is a reason this is is an enduring delight for new (and repeat) readers.

The media could not be loaded.  Para empezar llegó dos días antes y sin problema alguno. Salvo una ligera abolladura en la parte inferior del lomo, el libro está en perfectas condiciones. La edición de Minalima es bellísima y todo sus pop ups están protegidos por un papelito adicional. La historia la conozco por la película pero en cuanto al estado del libro todo perfecto y por un buen precio.

The book is really good. But it has a lot of characters and their backstories so it's a bit confusing... and I got a different cover unlike the one which the picture shows.. the font size of the letters is very small, which makes it difficult to read...

El libro es una maravilla y ha llegado en perfectas condiciones.

I really liked this style of illustration and it helped to tell the classic story very well to a modern or younger audience.The length of this version of the book is short enough without missing any of the important parts of the story.