One of my favorite children's classics in a lovely graphic novel format. The art wasn't as amazing as I was hoping from looking at the cover, kind of washed out and grey throughout, but I do like it. I enjoyed revisiting this story.

I found this book charming and the artwork really helped tell the story in a way that young readers can appreciate it. Most have never even heard of land often called "the moors" let alone seen them. The artwork in this book helps them to get a glimpse of the land, being able to picture something helps to immerse themselves in the story. I also appreciated how the book has times where the artwork does the storytelling, there was not a need to use text to cover some of the art, it was enough on its own.

I think this is a great book that can introduce children to some of the classics their parents grew up on.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to read this lovely book!

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 ⭐️
When I saw this I thought it was amazing and so fitting, since we've read The Secret Garden for my English course at University this semester! It was my first time reading the book, so I was excited to see a little bit of a different take on it with this graphic novel! It did not disappoint! I think the artstyle was SO nice and fitting, and Mary Lennox being a sour child was captured SO well here 😂
I would say I like this better than the original, even tho I wish it sometimes lingered a tiiiny bit on some moments for extra depth. Overall really happy with it tho!

Though at first, Mary seemed unlikeable and fairly moody, she gradually starts to soften as she is introduced to nature. Along the way she uncovers secrets both inside and outside her uncle's manor.

This is beautiful, both in manner of storytelling and illustration. I've always wanted to read The Secret Garden ever since I found an excerpt of of it in my elementary textbook. Alas, I couldn't find a copy of it at all when I was that age. Bookstores weren't big in my area and I could not find it in our small town library.

If my younger self had found this earlier, they would have been overjoyed. The visual storytelling and the magical setting would have delighted them a lot. That is not to say I was not impacted by this graphic novel, quite the opposite, actually. I was amazed with the simplicity of the art style yet still being able to portray emotions and scenes with such clarity. The backgrounds simply take the cake for it, though, in my opinion. It really felt as if one were in a magical secret world when I was reading it.

I'd say this was a solid 5/5 stars for me. This is a beautiful retelling of the original novel. I highly recommend this if The Secret Garden was your childhood and you're looking to be hit with a wave of nostalgia or if you have any young ones at home.

3.5 I was a huge fan of The Secret Garden as it was read to our class in 4th grade. My teacher loved it so much and she even turned our entire classroom into our own Secret Garden. I really enjoyed the simple but beautiful art, which made this so much more adaptable to younger readers. It would be great to read with a younger elementary age kid even. I think that the content itself was a bit simplistic and lacking in the magic that I really remembered from the original story. But overall it was easily readable and adaptable to the younger kids.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A lovely graphic novel based on the much-loved classic by Frances Hodgson Burnett. One of my favourite books as a child, I remember my feeling of awe as I read about the magical secret garden, tucked away behind four walls and forever locked with a secret key. I could smell and see the garden in my mind’s eye; the twisty, twiny weeded paths hidden behind the high stone walls, gradually blooming under the loving care of a special little girl and her helpers, into a magical fairy kingdom teeming with wonder and colour. Along the way, touching everyone in its path with its message of pure magic, the theme was clear - there is always a reason to hope, the possibility of re-birth, the comfort and heart-soaring promise of spring, and the dawning and power of transformation and a new day.

As a child, I loved grumpy Miss Mary, (portrayed beautifully here with her golden hair and sullen mouth), recognizing her as an orphan with a terrible past, heroically struggling to find her footing. And Dickon, the wild boy, tamer of animals, speaker to birds is captured perfectly with simple strokes and his cuddly menagerie of furry and feathered friends. And finally there is cousin Colin; spoiled, bed-ridden, terrifying ill of a wasting disease, (what we now know as tuberculosis) with little chance of survival. Hard to like, initially, Colin’s plight is fearful to any child, and in this rendition, the author and illustrator manage to capture his journey to hope lyrically and with great charm.

Although nothing can touch the magic for me of the original classic, this graphic novel is a book to treasure deeply for its beauty and simplicity, making this wonderful story accessible now to even younger readers, who will no doubt delight in the pictures, get lost in the story, and carry away a sense of wonder and delight from the experience.

On a final note, adults will enjoy it too - the illustrations are beautiful - wistful, ethereal, and muted in shades of teal, burnished pink and gold. (And don’t we all need another message of hope in this always challenging world.)

A big thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an advance review copy of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

This was an awesome adaptation of the classic story! I am a fan of the original, of course, and I love seeing any new version of this! This was no exception. The story is one that we know, but the art is what really brought it to life! It was beautiful. The style of the art really fit the story, and I just loved it! I can’t wait to see it in person! If you love The Secret Garden, you will love this!

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This was such a cute, hearwarming story with adorable illustrations. Fantastic! I can't wait to see more by these authors.

A beautiful, highly simplistic version of a classic.
This is a great introduction to classic stories - the illustrations are really easy to follow and so gorgeous! It really enhances the beauty and magic of the Garden!
As it’s a graphic novel, a lot of details from the original book are missed or omitted, but a lot of the author’s decisions are explained in a note at the end. There is a glossary which will help young readers understand words they may not have come across before.
Overall, this is a wonderful graphic novel which opens up Classics to more readers!

A graphic novel adaptation of The Secret Garden available on Netgalley? I couldn't resist!

While the story was really sweet and full of magic, I wasn't a fan of the illustrations. Among other things, I would have preferred brighter colors.

Sure, it's a graphic novel so it's not as detailed as the novel, but it respects the original storyline. For children who don't read a lot, it's a great way to discover this classic. I liked that there wasn't text at every pages.

If you like graphic novel adaptations, I recommend Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel, by the same author.

The thing I most adored about this graphic novel is that it matched the scenic and gorgeous landscapes that I always imagined when thinking of the original text. Definitely, something that Burnett would be proud of.

So I should premise this with, I adore the book, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and I also happen to love the 1993 movie adaptation. But I happen to love graphic novels in general. Which brings me to my strange point, I didn’t love this.

The art was quite lovely. It reminds me of Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans in the style, and I really loved that. But this being a very abridged version, I feel like some of the magic just didn’t translate.

This is just my opinion because I’m sure so many people are going to love this a lot. I am just so in love of the book and the movie that I needed more content. It just wasn’t long enough for my taste. That’s why I’ve rated this 3 1/2 stars rounded down. I do recommend this to those who haven’t read the book, and also a young audience. I think my kiddos would love this!!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for allowing me to read this for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Will be posted on my blog and Amazon shortly.

The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel is a beautifully illustrated adaptation of the classic. I loved the art of the birds, the plants and the flowers. I was not familiar with this classic but I enjoyed reading it. I think fans of the novel will definitely appreciate this adaptation, however, for readers like me who are unfamiliar with the novel it may not touch us as deeply.

I recommend The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel to readers who want to familiarise themselves with classic stories but like me struggle reading the original texts.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Most of the kids and adults know the story of "The Secret garden", they might have read it as book or watched it as a movie based on its story. This book is the best thing to read for this season "Spring". I picked up this book mainly for the art and I had such a beautiful moment looking at the illustrations made by H. Luechterfeld, she knew how to made this story alive through her art. it was so charming.

After reading this book you realize how important are the flora and the fauna to the point of changing the life of people to the better if they take care of them with love. For me, that was the most important part of this book which is nature has such a magical power for healing the souls.

This was a very good adaptation, by my reckoning – I don't think I have read the novel, but I know the story from the films made of it. A girl gets packed off to live as an orphan in a country mansion when her parents die, but it and the people in it are full of unexpected darkness and secrets. Luckily there is an outside to the mansion, where the girl meets characters both human and avian, and finds one of the place's secrets is a locked garden. Over the summer she and other people find the magic in outdoors life, nature, tending for wildlife and plants, and more.

Visually this was strong, but not a hundred per cent there. Sure, all the hundreds of silent, wordless small images build up a montage showing the wildlife in and around the secret garden, and with that the passing of time, but some of it did seem to add nothing but complexity. I did think, too, with the artist's palette being a bit muted to start with we might find something a bit more dazzling with the success of summer – instead it still remains a little inscrutably Victorian and reined-in. Where the script is concerned, I cannot really report on how well the characters have come across. In dropping the whole colonial, Indian aspect of the book's opening for needless 'woke' reasons, it's hard for the newcomer here to tell if the girl is just mourning, stuck up and privileged, or rightfully indignant in having strangers and a strange new world thrust on her. Of course, as the story plays out we see others in mourning, and/or more indignant than she – so there is still a satisfying arc for all the personalities in the novel.

So people who know the source well may disagree with my positive comments about this, but on the basis of what I got here alone I found something enjoyable. There's a spirituality to the eco-consciousness, a classic example of the orphan finding a manor full of a dark past, and more to this, and all of it is worth our time. A healthy, budding four stars.

I loved the secret garden, and the illustrations in this graphic novel were FANTASTIC! I loved having the pictures to go along with it, because when you read this book you imagine what it looks like.

A wonderful graphic novel describing a famous fable. Artwork is excellent with brave use of space and interplay of colours is eye-catching. Panels on pages are innovative.
It was a wonderful read. Itvis easy on the eyes with big fonts. It is soothing to glide through pages. I don't like long and congesed captions. So naturally it was a simple read.

“The Secret Garden” by F. H. Burnett is one of my most beloved children’s books of all time, so I couldn’t skip this graphic novel. The adaptation was written by Mariah Marsden whose other book “Anne of Green Gables” I loved very much and I sometimes dive into when in need to cheer up. “The Secret Garden” was no less enjoyable.
The illustrations by Hanna Luechtefeld are simply enchanting. Performed in muted gentle colours, they created a cozy, magical atmosphere, a world you would want to get lost in. They were so heartwarming and touching, I couldn’t tear myself away from the pages.
The story itself is so popular, that everyone is familiar with it more or less: through the book or an old movie adaptation (which was my favourite to watch as a child). I believe Marsden’s version did the novel justice. The nature is basically called “magic“ in the adaptation and looks like it too. The picturesque scenery of moors, wild flowers, trusting animals are so alive and breathing, it made me smile.
I guess more pages could be dedicated to developing the characters’ relationships and to the importance of making friends. The other thing I’d change in this graphic adaptation is its length, I wish it was much longer. On the other hand, it’s the right number of pages to keep kids engaged in the story.
I hope the additional information at the end of the book will strike a spark of curiosity in young readers’ minds and they will be interested in reading the novel itself or just spending some time outdoors in the company of birds and plants.

The Secret Garden is one of those stories which has beautiful moments and dark moments. The drawing style emphasizes the lighter side, but makes it work and effectively communicates it to younger readers.

The Secret Garden is one of my favourite children’s books. I love the entire story (except for one part; more on that later) and all the characters, Dickon and Martha being my special favourites. So seeing the graphic version of this novel is a nostalgic experience.

You might already know the original story. Mary’s parents, who live in colonial India, die suddenly of cholera and she is shipped off to one of her distance uncles in England. While initially a spoiled brat, she is soon set right by the friendly maid Martha. Under her loving tutelage, Mary learns to enjoy the outdoors, find new friends and even love herself. The secret garden she discovers on the grounds is central to this changeover.

The book is quite charming and cute. It moves very quickly as there are many pages with only graphics and not much dialogue. Unfortunately, the story gets a few abrupt jumps at times and I can’t help feeling that chaptered sections would have worked better in explaining the sudden scene shifts.

While the illustrations of the garden and house are excellent, the children could have drawn in a cuter way. The book will still be appealing to all its readers because the story is en evergreen one that speaks of nature and its enjoyment. I hope this graphic novel spurs the children to read the classic book too.

What I have always hated in the original story is the colonial setting. While I am sometimes forgiving of the classic authors for being so racist and stereotyped in their thinking about “the natives”, I found it hurtful that the author Frances Hodgson Burnett had never even visited India and merely used whatever she had heard to create a picture of the Indian under British rule. So here comes the great news: the graphic version does away entirely with the Indian part of the story and begins with Mary travelling to her uncle’s house. The note by the author at the end of the book states that the Indian part has been skipped out as “it doesn’t do justice to the history of British oppression in colonial India.” Heck, yeah! I am usually against significant parts of the story being left out in the graphic version, but in this case, I wholeheartedly support this decision and am grateful to whoever took that creative call. A big THANK YOU. A extra half star to the book for this decision and the honest note mentioning the same. <3 I would have gone with 3.75 stars for the book but now I go with 4.25.

Thank you, NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, for the Advanced Review Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.