I still have my original hardback copy of "The Secret Garden". It's looking rough, true, since it was not only passed along to me by family members but printed in 1911. It also made the move with me from Florida to Alaska, so it's got a few miles on it. All of this said to clarify that I obviously loved this book as a youth enough to cling to it through the years of moves and downsizing. True, in my nostalgic memories of it, I didn't recall Mary Lennox being quite so, well, unlikable. Heck, shes downright ill-behaved and spoiled.
The memory I'm sure my youthful mind clung to, however, was of the magic of the garden. Mary went from a sad, petulant, okay, nasty child to one who thrived in nature and with the hard work of cultivating a woefully neglected garden. Her friendship with Dickon, son of a servant, who adored animals and nature, and eventual friendship with the frail, sickly (and also not particularly nice) Colin Craven transformed her and, most likely, gave hope to many a sad, lonely child reading along. I won't belabor the plot, I see many others have detailed it far better than I ever could, so will simply say it is, well, magical. Not magical in the sense of wave of the wand magic, but in the magical healing power of nature. A bit new-age themed long before that term had even been though of, so to speak. I should note that this is an unabridged edition, In other words, it uses Burnett's original text, even parts that are derogatory towards others. As the publishers note upfront, however, they are aware and advising readers beforehand that they've made the decision not to change Burnett's words while still acknowledging their power to hurt. Adult readers might want to discuss why the matter in question is no longer acceptable with younger readers, making this a teaching tool, too.
As for the illustrations, while I was expecting more realism going into the book, the splashes of color and stylistic portrayals of the characters work. The colors, of course, mirror the wonder color and aromas of the secret garden itself. I had an ebook version, so can't address what the physical book might add, but the cover with its riotous burst of sprawling colors against the sunny yellow background definitely catch the eye. I've seen mention of a lovely ribbon bookmark, too. I'm thinking this would be a lovely gift for any age, both new and past readers. My thanks to #NetGalley and #ChronicleBooks for making this available to me early. I thoroughly enjoyed this time-travel back to my youth. I even dug out my old copy to sit beside me as I read, silly as that may seem.
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