The Secret Garden (Aladdin Classics) (original 1911; edition 1999)

I've always believed I had read this book as a child. I know I had read a version of it - but quite a lot of the elements do not fit into what the book ended up being - so either it was a condensed version (during the translation) or I really don't remember it that well.

It's a book full of magic - not the fantasy type but the magic of life, friendship and hope. And clean air. A girl that had grown up in India (and had always had her way there) and is shipped to England after the death of her parents, a boy that everyone believed to be so ill that he had almost never left his bedroom (and in the process convinced even himself that this is the case) and another boy that had grown up poor but free and has a knack for talking to animals - this does not sound like a regular group of kids that will get together but that's exactly what happens.

Of course there is a garden, locked up for 10 years and hidden from the world, there is an old gardener that never forgot the past, there is the mother of one of them that will come to represent the mother of all of them. And there is the old English mansion - that looks so dreary to Mary when she arrives from sunny India and that ends up being at least as interesting place as any.

Despite its good qualities, the book got on my nerves more than once - the naivete I can accept considering the age of the book but the repetitions were getting a bit too much. And resorting to a dream to drive the end of the story simply stole something from the magic of the book. The Yorkshire accent used by a lot of the characters takes a bit using to and I wonder if it was not part of my problem of the book - it is beautiful and interesting but it also slows down the story and at moments feel unnecessary.

The 2006 Folio edition features gorgeous color illustrations by Charles Robinson - with pictures that could be seen in the books of my childhood, with the images clear and not trying to be modern or chic - just pictures that match points of the story and tell you the same as the words but it a different media.

It's a book worth reading for the world of yesterday but I am not sure that it will be as alluring to the children of today as it was for the previous generations.... ( )

I always liked that Dickon could talk with animals. ( )

Such a lovely book I have such warm memories of from my childhood. It was wonderful to be able to do a re-read and enjoy it just as much. ( )

ereader ebook

This is probably the loveliest book I've ever read.

Mary Lennox was born in India and was raised by her ayah, without love from anyone. An then she has to go live at her uncle's in Yorkshire, England.

This is a book about the discovery of love, about people learning how to care for each other. The way the story is told, the characters, the way they talk are so innocent that you can't help to smile because everything is so beautiful.

Important: this is not exclusive for children. This is one those stories that can be read by anyone, at any age. The writing is not so childish as in most children's books.

And the characters are really the most lovable ones. There's probably no one in the world who wouldn't love Dickon, a boy who loves everything about the nature and is friends with animals.

I really cannot put into words how beautiful this book is. "The Secret Garden" is one of my favorite movies of all time, and now I can understand how such a movie was possible. ( )