Kara Shallenberg reads The Secret Garden. She does such a splendid job that I wanted to listen to it again when I finished it. You can follow her on her blog here. Or, you can follow her on twitter here. You can see the other books she has recorded for librivox here. I’m looking forward to listening to others read by her.
One great activity is to find a public garden near your home and visit it several times during the spring and summer so you can see all the plants as they start to poke up through the ground, bud, and turn into a beautifully mature garden.
You could also plant your own garden and watch it bloom from seed.
After listening to the Audiobook, you can watch the 1993 version of the movie, you can watch the trailer here.
You could also try out some of the recipes in the Secret Garden Cookbook. I’m sure it has recipes for crumpets, raspberry jam, and clotted cream. Or, you could just get two thick slices of bread and put a thick slice of bacon in between for your supper.
You can learn all about robins – where they are found, what they look like, what they eat – you can download an app for your iPhone that tells you all about birds you may see in your backyard.
Whatever you do – we hope you enjoy listening to The Secret Garden.
The Secret Garden has so many great messages in it. That children should not be rude and disagreeable, that sickness is sometimes only in your head, that fresh air can cure a myriad of things. That it is not good for a child to have nothing he or she wants, nor is it good for a child to have everything he or she wants.
1. How did Mary change throughout the book – was it more physical or emotional?
2. Why was Dicken’s mother allowed to be let in on the secret?
3. What role does Dickon play in the story? Do you think his upbringing was better or worse than that of Mary and Colin? Why?
The first line of the book captures the essence of Mary:
When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable child ever seen. It was true, too.
I cannot imagine everybody I know and love being killed by cholera. Then, to be shipped off to a distant relative’s house would be quite confusing. However, the other children still make fun of her singing:
Mistress Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow? With silver bells and cockle shells and marigolds all in a row.
I love her first conversation with Dicken, when she reveals her secret to him:
A garden. I’ve stolen a garden. But it may already be dead, I don’t know.
I realized I never announced the giveaway winner for the Little Women giveaway. Random number generator picked #2 – congrats Maggie – I’ll send you an email with your prize.
The Text + Audio App giveaway that just ended today – Random number generator picked #2 again – Congrats Sunne Dong – I will send you an email shortly.
Thanks for everyone who entered!!
A thorough love of Spring and gardening fills The Secret Garden, this week’s featured audiobook. As flowers bloom full force, Traveling Classics hopes that Frances Hodgson Burnett’s story will inspire the gardener in you or at least a deep appreciation for the natural beauty that surrounds us, if we only take time to look. This classic novel follows the childhood of Mary Lennox, an orphan who goes to live with strangers on the moors of England in a large manor called, Misselthwaite. Starting off as a lonely and hurt child, Mary changes as she discovers a purpose in re-cultivating a secret and lost garden and sharing love in unexpected places. She develops close friendships with Colin, the invalid at Misselthwaite, and a local boy named Dicken. Dicken teaches Mary and Colin to appreciate the beauty of the world around them and the three spend many happy hours growing and learning in the secret garden.
Gerard Doyle did a wonderful job narrating How to Train your Dragon – here are a few more books he has narrated:
The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey
Happy Earth Day! Here are four great viking-related things to do that will help the planet.
First – you can give your kids some re-usable wooden viking utensils instead of plastic utensils
Second – you can make yourself an origami viking hat out of some old bills or other paper that would have otherwise just gone into the recycling bin
Third – you can smoke some sustainable fish just the way the vikings would have – though they called it Rökt Fisk
Fourth – you can learn about Vikings online – the BBC has a beliefs and stories section on Vikings
We’re giving away one of our Text + Audio Apps – you can find the list of them here under “iPhone & iPod Touch Text + Audio Apps” All you have to do to get a code to download one of them free is answer the simple question:
What do you like to do while you’re listening to audiobooks?
Just leave a comment to enter – we’ll pick a winner at 5:00 PM on Monday, April 26.
There were so many wonderful parts of this book, and some pretty funny ones, too. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book – without giving too much away!
And what Hiccup had learned about dragons told him walking into a cave with three thousand dragons was an act of madness. No one else seemed too concerned, however.
Oh, Hiccup, you are useless! crowed speedy fist. You’re the son of a chief for Thor’s sake. Why didn’t you get one of those new monstrous nightmares with a 6 foot wing span and the extra extendable claws? They’re really mean killers, they are.
Fear, Vanity, Revenge & Silly Jokes
Did you have a favorite part of the book – or the movie?
