From Our Editors
Lonely orphan Mary and her sickly cousin Colin are living out pale
lives in a cold, old mansion. But one day, out of nowhere, Mary
finds the key to The Secret Garden, where
her spirit is inspired by its floral beauty and serenity.
Invigorated, Mary helps her cousin get the colour back in his
cheeks and the jump back into his step. Enchanted by the garden
around them, Mary and Colin find health and happiness.
From the Publisher
One of the most beloved children''s books of all time and the
inspiration for a feature film, a television miniseries, and a
Broadway musical, The Secret Garden is the best-known work
of Frances Hodgson Burnett. In this unforgettable story, three
children find healing and friendship in a magical forgotten garden
on the haunting Yorkshire moors.
About the Author
Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote for children and adults, publishing
both plays and novels. She was born in Manchester, England, on
November 24, 1849. Her father, who owned a furniture store, died
when she was only four years old. Her mother struggled to keep the
family business running while trying to raise five children.
Finally, because of the failing Manchester economy, the family sold
the store and immigrated to the United States. In 1865 they settled
just outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Hoping to offset her family's
continuing financial troubles, Burnett began to submit her stories
to women's magazines. She was immediately successful. In the late
1860s her stories were published in nearly every popular American
magazine. Burnett helped to support her family with income from the
sale of her stories, even saving enough to finance a trip back to
England, where she stayed for over a year. In 1879, Burnett
published her first stories for children; two of her most popular
are A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. In contrast to an
extremely successful career, Burnett's personal life held many
challenges. Her son Lionel was diagnosed with tuberculosis at age
15, from which he never recovered. His death inspired several
stories about dead or dying children. Burnett lived her later years
on Long Island, New York. She died in 1924.
Elaine Lobl Konigsburg, noted children's writer and illustrator,
was born February 10, 1930 in New York City. The second of three
daughters, she was reared in small Pennsylvania towns . She
attended Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon
University) and received a BS in 1952. She was the first member of
her family to go to college and, unaware of her talent for writing,
she majored in chemistry, doing graduate study at the University of
Pittsburgh. Her best-known titles include A Proud Taste for Scarlet
and Miniver, which was an American Library Association Notable
Children's Book and National Book Award nominee, 1974; The Second
Mrs. Giaconda and Father's Arcane Daughter (both ALA Best Book for
young adults); and Throwing Shadows (ALA Notable Children's Book
and American Book Award nomination, 1980). She won the Newbery
Honor in 1968 for Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and
Me, Elizabeth and the Newbery Medal in 1968 and the William Allen
White Award in 1970 for From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E.
Frankweiler. She won the Newbery Medal again in 1997 for The View
from Saturday From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
was adapted as a motion picture starring Ingrid Bergman in 1973 and
later released as The Hideaways in 1974. It became a television
film starring Lauren Bacall in 1995. Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth,
William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was adapted for television as
Jennifer and Me for NBC-TV in 1973. Konigsburg married David
Konigsburg in 1952 and they had three children, Paul, Laurie, and
Ross. She began writing when her youngest child started school.
Trade Paperback
416 Pages, 5.12 x 7.62 x 1.1 in
July 15, 1999
Aladdin
English
0689831412
9780689831416