From what I have read so far of this book, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is a lovely children’s fiction book about a young girl named Mary who starts out by moving to a new residence at Misselthwaite Manor as a “quite contrary” girl who expects others to do everything, even such simple tasks as putting on clothes for her, to her starting to grow and beginning to become more like a regular happy and healthy child who has plenty of friends (Burnett 14). And meanwhile, she ends up finding herself a secret garden to tend to with a friend or two. In the first few chapters that I have read so far, there is a theme of curiosity and adventure developing. I like this book a lot and rated it a 5 because it is very entertaining and fun. Reading about how Mary plays in the gardens, learns and explores at Misselthwaite makes me feel like I am also there. It can be seen from this book that the author definitely believes that children need to play outside, be curious, be independent, and eat well to be healthy and happy, as she writes about how these habits affect Mary. I agree with this, parents and guardians who do every little thing for their kids while not giving them the time to play by themselves and explore actually do a lot of harm to their child, they can stunt their growth and learning, and make the child generally unhappy. I don’t think these issues relate to me personally very much, I would often play outside by myself when I was younger too. But it is definitely important for kids to get the fresh air and creative ideas they need to do well in the future. This is a great and very fun book with lots of good advice for kids. I highly recommend reading this book especially if you can find the interactive version, or a version with pictures. It is very entertaining to get to see the images that go with the words and visualize the story better.
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