The Secret Garden

Title: The Secret Garden
Author: Deborah Hautzig
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap Inc.
Reading Level: 2 and up
Pages: 48
Genre: Fiction










Summary:

Mary Lennox was a very spoiled girl born in India. All the servants had to do everything she ordered, and they did everything for her. She was no happy, and she never smiled. When she turned 10 a sickness came through and killed her parents. She was angry because she didn't know who would take care of her now. But soon she found out, her Uncle Archibald Craven, She would move to England and live with him. One of the servants, Mrs. Medlock greeted her and soon found out she was 'a sour little thing' just like her uncle. Mrs. Medlock showed her where she would sleep and warned her to not look around the house. The next morning Martha brought Mary her breakfast. When she found out that Mary couldn't do anything for herself she was shocked. She taught her to care for herself and to go outside and play in the gardens. However, one garden was locked up and had been for 10 years. Mary was determined to find this garden and she searched every day. She met the gardner, Ben, and he had a robin for a friend. One day Mary ran into the robin again and it took her somewhere. One the ground she noticed a key. She knew it was to the garden, so she asked the bird to take her to the door. She found the secret garden and decided to make it beautiful again. She asked Martha for tools, and was told to go to Dickon, her brother. When she met him she told him about the garden so he could help. They worked on it every day. One night, while in her room, Mary heard crying, but Martha told her it was just the wind. However, she heard it the next night too, so she went to investigate. She found a boy who said he was Collin Craven, her cousin! She told him about the garden and he wanted to come see it. He was a cripple, and the servants had to do anything to please him. Everybody thought he was going to die, and his father never wanted to spend time with him because it reminded him of his wife's death. Mary, Dixon and Collin started going to the garden every day. One day they made a lot of noise, and Ben put a ladder against the wall and peered into the garden. He was shocked to see the kids and the crippled Collin. Collin was upset at being called crippled and he stood up! Everyone was so excited because he had never stood before. Everyone had been telling him he was sick for so long that he believed it. However, once he had something to live for he got better. After a few weeks Archibald Craven came home and decided to walk to the secret garden. He was suprised when he heard noise, and then a boy ran out right into him! It was his son, all better! Collin told him how he got better, and everybody was able to enjoy the garden.

My Reaction:

I love this story! I read the unabridged version when I was younger, and I've watched the movie dozens of times. It think it's great for younger kids that this book is shorter so they can get the same great story and still keep it within their attention span.

Potential Problems:

At the begginning Mary is rude, but she gets better. Other than that I didn't recognize any potential problems.

Recommendations:

I would recommend this to younger kids so they can have this great story at a younger age. If they love the book then they can read the longer version when they are able to and love it even more!