Reviews for The Secret Garden : A Young Reader's Edition of the Classic Story

The average rating for The Secret Garden : A Young Reader's Edition of the Classic Story based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-08-08 00:00:00 Robert Stabile I am now confused. I do not know anymore what is my preference when it comes to books. When I was a kid, I wanted to read only books with pictures like the illustrated "Alice in the Wonderland" or "Rip Van Winkle". Until I read "Silas Marner" with no pictures and I said, wow, books with no pictures are also great! When I was a teenager, I said I don't like to read books that are hard to understand and read by adults until I read "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov and I said, wow, I did not know that there are authors who write this way! When I was a young man, I said I do not want thick books because I do not have time for them until I read "War and Peace" and "The Fountainhead" and I said, wow, thick books can be really engaging and finishing them can give you a different high! When I became a husband, my sex life became busy, I stopped heavy reading and concentrated on my job (not on copulating you silly) so I just grabbed some easy-read bestsellers like "The Da Vinci Code", "The Kite Runner" until my daughter came and I had to read some children's books to her and she loved them but I secretly hated them until I read to her "The Little Prince" and said, wow, there are still children's books that can speak to me even if I am a grown up man! When I became a middle-aged man, I discovered Goodreads. There is an option to screen members who apply to become your friend by asking the applicant a question. I thought then that the choice of genre was important so I chose this question: What is your favorite literary genre?" and from then on, I have been accepting and ignoring invites based on his/her answer. I generally don't accept invites from people who say they don't have any preference. I thought that that kind of answer is wishy-washy or indecisive that reflects his or her not being a serious reader. Prior to last year, I said, I don't want to read fantasy books. I am too old for that. Until, I read the whole series of J.R.R.Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and I say, wow, wow, wow, I did not know that I could still be amazed by a fantasy book about wizards, trolls, flying horse, monsters and little creatures! This book, The Secret Garden is a kind of book that I would not even consider reading. It is neither a 501 nor a 1001 book. The reason why I read this is that it is one of the Top 100 Favorite Books of The Filipino Group here at Goodreads. We challenged ourselves to read all the chosen books so I gave this a try. Story-wise, it is too sweeet. Saccharine corny. Predictable. Inappropriate for a middle-age man like me. Almost insulting to intelligence: feisty girl turns sweet girl. Sickly unwanted boy turns healthy. Then the boy and father embrace each other and profess love for one another. Hu hu hu. Books can just hit you without any warning. I was sad yet happy when I closed this book this morning. I think I am going crazy reading different books and experience all the different emotions while reading them. So I don't know anymore. I don't know what I like in books. No more preferences. Ask me now, what is my favorite genre. I don't know. But, the writing in this book is flawless. I have attended a novel-writing workshop last year and all the ingredients of a good novel are here: well-developed characters, each of them has his/her own distinct voice and transforming towards the end, milieu (the garden) is clearly described and very significant in the story, the internal and external conflicts are arranged like small-to-tall majorettes in a parade, the hooks at the end of each chapter, the climax, the falling action, the denouement ties up the loose ends from the conflicts. The theme is solid. The lessons, though corny, are school-textbook-kind of reminders: that love is important to make this world a better place and nature is beautiful so we have to take care of it. I guess my realization is this: yes, at some points in our lives, we tend to prefer some literary genres over the others. However, the genre is secondary to the writing. If the writer is good, no matter in which genre the book belongs, he/she should be read. It is not the genre, it is the writing.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-03-15 00:00:00 Rcrown Crown 100 days into 2021 and 100 books have been read. Check out my latest BookTube Video to see which ones are my fave! The Written Review Orphaned Mary Lennox had a sour face, bitter temperment and dismal dispostion. But could you blame her? Nine years old and she was barely shown an ounce of affection. Her parents saw her as an accessory (to be paraded about for parties) and when they died, and Mary shipped off to live with a distant uncle...she felt just as alone as ever. She spent her time on the Yorkshire moors exploring the surrounding gardens...and that's when she found a key. A curious old key that fit perfectly in a mysterious little door. And then she realizes what she found. A secret garden. The garden is rough, neglected and unloved...but Mary sees a spark. And so she pours love into this forgotten garden, and she soon finds out what it is like to be loved in return. This is my first time I read this one...but wow. It was amazing. Why did I wait so long???? This was such an amazing, gorgeous and touching book. Mary's story was absolutely compelling to read and I could NOT put it down. The way the garden was described made me want to pick up my shovel and head out to fix things up on my own. And the conclusion of this story? Absolutely perfect. Highly recommended!!