The Annotated Secret Garden (The Annotated Books)

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Hardcover, 2007

Status

Available

Call number

813.4

Publication

W. W. Norton & Company (2007), Edition: Annotated, 336 pages

Description

Frances Hodgson Burnett was famous in her time for her adult novels and her forays into children's literature with Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess. The Secret Garden, her story of an orphan girl who moves from India to the British countryside, has become a favorite book of every generation thereafter. Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, the author of the definitive biography of Burnett, brings out aspects of Burnett's life that led her to write the book, details of the Victorian England time period, attitudes toward children, and Burnett's spiritual leanings. Gerzina captures the magical nature of the tale and the coming together of three children through restoring a hidden garden. With over one hundred illustrations, many in vibrant color, The Annotated Secret Garden is an enchanting gift for any child or for any adult who is still a feisty child underneath.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member London_StJ
Burnett's original novel is delightful and inspiring, and continues to be a great find for readers of all ages. The classic tale continues to be inspiring and charming, and the illustrations in this edition allow readers to joyfully trace the cultural evolution of the story, and its many
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representations.

However, the "annotations" in this edition are largely obtuse and uninspired. They offer little to the actual study of the novel, and readers would do much better to buy a traditional publication and make up their own minds.
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LibraryThing member CurrerBell
I'm not at all crazy about The Secret Garden, better than Little Women but in no way comparable to the best of Anne with an E!Green Gables, Avonlea, and Rilla of Ingleside. And these Norton Annotated editions aren't comparable to the Harvard Belknap Annotated series.

Still, I'll give this
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3½*** for the attractive (and copious) illustrations and for the interesting supplementary essay, though the annotations themselves tended to belabor the obvious.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2007

Physical description

10.3 inches

ISBN

0393060292 / 9780393060294
Page: 0.4168 seconds