Happy Birthday to THE SECRET GARDEN - 2011 is its Centennial Year!

Did you know there is a REAL garden that inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett?

It is the kitchen garden of Great Maytham Hall, Rolvenden, in Kent, England, 

where she lived for ten years in the 1890's.  You can read about it HERE.

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of THE SECRET GARDEN, Frances Hodgson Burnett's beautiful story that has been a favorite of generations of girls (and boys) everywhere.  I loved the unfamiliar setting, wonderful characters, and riveting plot this book introduced me to as a child:  the lonely moors of Yorkshire, mysterious Misselthwaite Manor, a lost key to a hidden door, a tangled and abandoned garden, spoiled orphan Mary Lennox, her lonely Uncle Archibald, her hidden away-sickly-cousin-Colin, and kindhearted Dicken.

And of course, who can forget her little friend, the Robin...

"She stopped and listened to him and somehow his cheerful, friendly little whistle gave her a pleased feeling--even a disagreeable little girl may be lonely, and the big closed house and big bare moor and big bare gardens had made this one feel as if there was no one left in the world but herself. If she had been an affectionate child, who had been used to being loved, she would have broken her heart, but even though she was "Mistress Mary Quite Contrary" she was desolate, and the bright-breasted little bird brought a look into her sour little face which was almost a smile. She listened to him until he flew away. He was not like an Indian bird and she liked him and wondered if she should ever see him again. Perhaps he lived in the mysterious garden and knew all about it."

At its heart, the story is about two "disagreeable" children, Mary Lennox and Colin Craven, who, while transforming a dead and forgotten garden, are equally transformed themselves, as they cultivate a deep and enduring friendship.  "Two things cannot be in one place.  Where you tend a rose, a thistle cannot grow."  The garden becomes a place of healing for them as well as for Colin's lonely father, Archibald.

THREE CENTENARY EDITIONS... 1911-2011

Centenary Edition with over 70 illustrations
by Robert Ingpen.  

Centenary edition, illustrated by
Lauren Child, due out Sept. 2011.

This beautiful edition with
embroidered cover design by
Jillian Tamaki, is due out in October 2011

BOOK COVERS OVER THE YEARS...WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE?

This was the edition that introduced me, as a child, to Burnett's THE SECRET GARDEN.  Beautifully illustrated by Tasha Tudor, it was first published in 1962.

Below is the first published edition of THE SECRET GARDEN, with illustrations by M.B. Kork, published in 1911 in its entirety (it had previously been published in serial format in American Magazine).

(photo courtesy of Project Gutenberg)

Another illustrator of an early edition
was Charles Robinson.

Illustrations by Inga Moore. 

 Graham Rust, illustrator.

Michael Hague's depictions.

JUST FOR FUN:  For any of you die-hard fans out there, take this SECRET GARDEN QUIZ and see how much you remember about this classic book!

EVERYONE NEEDS A SECRET PLACE...REAL OR IMAGINED

"...the realm of the imagination is not an escape from life's complexities but often a means of coping with them." - William Kilpatrick, BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER.

My secret place - do you think it's real or imagined?

Have you ever stumbled upon a secret place that was right around the corner, but that you hadn't realized had always been there?  Children often find these places - maybe because their active imaginations help them see what the rest of us hurriedly pass by.  I recently found such a place...a small forest of Redwood trees, just miles from my home!  

View of the treetops from the trail we walk.

I had noticed the tops of the trees down below a horse trail that I've walked along, but I'd never taken time to actually walk down the steep pathway and explore what was there. Imagine my surprise to find over 200 Redwoods, nestled on a deep green carpet of grass, with bright sunlight filtering softly through their dense branches.  It reminded me of another forest, in Narnia, or maybe from a Bridge to Terabithia...

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA by Katherine Paterson.  Did you know that this story was actually inspired by C.S. Lewis' imaginary world of Narnia?  From BOOKS THAT BUILD CHARACTER:  "To most casual observers in the rural town where they live, Jessee and Leslie look like a teenage version of the "odd couple."  Jesse comes from a poor family, Leslie from affluent cultured parents.  But there is something that binds them together; it is a shared imaginary kingdom called Terabithia lying deep within the woods.  When tragedy strikes, Jessee is able to find comfort in the world of the imagination and the mind.  He comes to realize that Terabithia is Leslie's legacy to him, a gift of friendship that enables him to come to terms with her death." (Contemporary Fiction/Middle readers, ages 8 and up)



More books about secret places:
SECRET PLACE by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Ted Rand.  "In the heart of the city where I live there is a secret place. Close by is a freeway where cars and trucks boom.  And a railroad track with freight trains that shunt and grunt."  There is a special place in this city that only a child, his father and a few other people know about. A man-made river runs through the city and it is home or watering hole to many creatures, from a coyote, to mallard ducks, to an egret, to possums and to many birds.  A gentle story for 4-8 year olds (Realistic Fiction).



RED SINGS FROM TREETOPS: A YEAR IN COLORS by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagerenski.  A unique and poetic picture book about the changing of seasons. Each season is explored in terms of how it encompasses colors. In the spring, “Red sings / from treetops . . . / each note dropping / like a cherry / into my ear.” Green “peeks from buds,” and yellow “slips goldfinches their spring jackets.” Pink also speaks of springtime and baby birds: "And here, in secret places, peeps Pink: hairless, featherless, the color of new things." Old leaves and crushed berries smell purple... all of these intriguing images are matched in the imaginative illustrations - with stylized figures (intricately costumed and crowned) walking, running, and sailing through Zagarenski’s artwork. For ages preschool-1st grade.



THE SECRET GARDEN by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  (Historical Fiction/ages 9 and up) I'll never forget the first time I encountered this book!  I couldn't put it down. Still an endearing favorite, it's about an orphaned girl, Mary Lennox, who is sent to a Yorkshire Mansion on a vast, lonely moor.  An unhappy nine-year old, she is frightened of her new gloomy home, until she meets Dickon, a local boy who is friends with animals.  She also discovers an abandoned garden and a secret:  there is another child in the house...