In The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett’s most popular and enduring work, a disagreeable young orphan named Mary is brought to live with her uncle in a great mansion called Misselthwaite. Only, her uncle is never home, the people around her speak in a strange dialect and her new surroundings seem utterly unsympathetic to her. A general unhappiness seems to hang over the whole house. But as spring arrives, and a certain garden is discovered at Misselthwaite, things begin to change magically for Mary, and for her new companions.

A writer of popular stories for children and adults, Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) was regarded as "’a born story-teller," with a talent for creating memorable characters whose state of affairs frequently improved as the narrative progressed.The Secret Garden, one of her best-loved works for young readers, is such a tale.

In it, Mary Lennox, an overindulged child suddenly orphaned, is almost magically transformed into an agreeable child when she comes to live at Misselthwaite Manor, the gloomy Yorkshire estate owned by her reclusive uncle, Archibald Craven. With the help of Dickon, an unusual local youngster with the ability to charm nature, Mary not only manages to bring life and beauty to the secret garden--abandoned years ago when the mistress of the manor was fatally injured there--but also persuades Colin,her unele’s frail son, to lead a normal life.

A repeated success on the motion-pieture screen and the theatrical stage, this classic children’s story is sure to charm new generations of readers.

"What is that?" she said, pointing out of the window

She was standing inside the secret garden.

On the bed was lying a boy, crying pitifully.

There was every joy on earth in the secret garden that morning

"I’m not a cripple!" Colin cried out

A boy burst through the door at full speed.