This book contains the following stories:
"The Secret Garden" is a classic novel written by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in 1911. The story centers around Mary Lennox, a sour-tempered and spoiled girl who is orphaned after a cholera outbreak in India kills her parents. She is sent to live with her reclusive uncle, Archibald Craven, at Misselthwaite Manor, a large and mysterious estate on the Yorkshire moors of England.
When Mary arrives at the manor, she discovers that the house is full of secrets, including a locked garden that has been neglected and left untouched for years. With the help of a kind servant named Martha and her brother Dickon, Mary begins to explore the estate and befriends a local boy named Colin, who is her sickly cousin and has been hidden away from the world due to his health issues.
As Mary spends more time outdoors and tends to the neglected garden, she undergoes a transformation. The magic of nature, friendship, and the healing power of the garden have a profound effect on Mary, Colin, and even their uncle, who has been grief-stricken since the death of his wife, Lily.
Through the revival of the secret garden, the characters experience physical and emotional healing. The garden becomes a symbol of renewal, hope, and the transformative power of love and nature. As the garden blooms, so do the lives of Mary, Colin, and their uncle, bringing them together as a family and healing the wounds of the past.
"The Secret Garden" is a beautiful and timeless story that celebrates the importance of love, friendship, and the wonders of the natural world. It continues to captivate readers of all ages with its themes of resilience and the potential for growth and change, making it one of the most beloved children's novels in literature.
A Little Princess
Hodgson Burnett's tale of a wealthy little girl sent to boarding school in London who falls out of favour when Daddy's wealth disappears is a lesson in coping with changing fortunes. Sara Crewe is sent to a girl's boarding school whilst her her wealthy father, Captain Ralph Crewe, goes off to fight in the Boer War. Sara is initially treated like a princess at the school due to her wealth and status. She is well-loved by her classmates and Miss Minchin, the headmistress, who showers her with attention and luxurious accommodations. Pretty and rich Sara is the favourite of all, but still manages to be kind and thoughtful. When news comes that her father is dead and the money gone, Miss Minchen, the boarding mistress, does not feel she can throw Sara out so she makes her a housemaid, shifting her to the attic with the existing maid. Sara's imagination keeps both her fellow maid and herself sane. In the rooftops they befriend the Indian servant of the man who lives next door. It is through this friendship that Sara is discovered by the friend of her father and rescued from the clutches of the evil boarding mistress. And the servant girl is saved too (although Burnett still keeps her in her place as Sara's servant...).
Heidi
After her parents die, Heidi is sent to live in the Swiss mountains with her bad-tempered old Grandfather. Heidi is scared but things are not as bad as they first appear. Every day she plays in the field with the friendly goat boy and at the end of each she eats her grandfather's delicious cheese and bread and drinks his creamy goats milk. Then she climbs into the hayloft and falls asleep under the stars. One day her aunt returns and demands that Heidi return with her to the city as a companion to a crippled girl, Clara. Heidi likes Clara but she pines for her life with her grandfather and Clara's family worry about her. One day they take both Clara and Heidi to the mountain home for a visit. Clara is so delighted with the village that she is allowed to stay with Heidi and her grandfather. Every day Clara and Heid play in the field with the friendly goat boy, Peter, and at the end of each they eat grandfather's delicious cheese and bread and drink his creamy goats milk. But Peter is jealous and pushes Clara's wheelchair down the mountain. Clara is forced to learn to walk. When her parents return to collect her they are overjoyed at her progress.
Black Beauty
When he comes of age, the horse Black Beauty is sold to a grand house to be a carriage horse. The groom, Joe, is kind but his masters are cruel. Every day Beauty and his fellow horse, Ginger, are shackled to the carriage with a tight bearing rein to keep their heads held high, and the two horses are whipped and generally mistreated. When Ginger misbehaves she is taken away. When Beauty smashes his knee he is sold to a London cabby. Pulling a cab through all the weather is hard work but Jerry is kind to Beauty and he is happy. Then Jerry is offered a job as groom by a customer and has to sell Beauty. His next master is harsh and cruel. But then Black Beauty is rescued by a horse doctor and at the doctor’s stables he discovers that the groom is none other than Joe. Beauty lives out the rest of his life in the doctor’s fields, happy and cared for.
Anne of Green Gables
When red-headed orphan Anne Shirley arrives at Green Gables, she feels sure she's found the home she has always longed for. Her new adoptive parents, the Cuthberts, are less certain - they had asked the orphanage for a boy. But before long, Anne's irrepressible optimism and loving nature charms them. While her temper is unpredictable and her extravagant imagination makes her dreamily whimsical and prone to comic mishap, they come to love Anne as if she were their own child.
