4.5 // This book was adorable! The setting was ethereal, the art was gorgeous and fitting for the story, and of course the story of the Secret Garden was captivating, This book can easily be enjoyed by all age groups, however it particularly succeeds in making a classic with older English more palatable to younger audiences. I recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, and atmospheric read!

Until recently I didn’t even know comic versions of classic stories were even a thing, but I’m extremely glad they are. I’ve always loved a the secret garden story and to see it in graphics was magical and beautiful. Even though it was a short book we get to know a a bit about the characters. Such a delightful book and I would read it again.

I'm going to preface this review with the fact that I have never read The Secret Garden prior to this graphic novel and I think this is a great way to introduce people to the story.

This was such a quick, easy read filled with illustrations that whisk you away from reality. At first, I wasn't sure about the dreary illustrations toward the beginning of the novel but after seeing the colorful garden I realized it was intentional and very well done. As someone who is still relatively new to the graphic novel genre there were some pages with so many panels that I was unsure of the reading order but I think that says more about me than the book itself.

If you're looking for a whimsical, nostalgic graphic novel this is for you.

3.5 stars
I read this book (the regular edition, not the graphic novel) for the first time last year. It was very fun to see it come alive in a graphic novel.
The artwork was cute and childish (but in a good way, as several of the characters are children). The landscapes and garden full page pictures were absolutely beautiful. There were little sparkles around some of the animals sometimes and it was a really cute addition.
The characters themselves however (besides Dickon) are such brats at the beginning/middle and honestly it was just annoying. Same as in the actual book form, so it's nothing to do with the graphic novel itself. Yes, they do come around and become a team to spruce up the secret garden, but they are so mean to the people living in the house!
I would definitely recommend this graphic novel if you enjoyed the classic to see it come alive on the page, or even if you haven't read it before!

A childhood favourite brought to life with gorgeous illustrations. This book is a joy and delight for both the long-time lovers of the story and those who are just discovering it. Recommended!

This graphic novel by Mariah Marsden and Hannah Luechtefeld was beautifully illustrated. The artwork was whimsical and even had a fantastical element and added a great layer to a classic children’s novel. Overall, a fun read that I would recommend to any fan of this childhood favorite. A quick an enjoyable read, although at times it did feel limiting with dialogue and discussion, although that may be purposeful to be inclusive for readers at any age.

Thank you NetGalley for providing an ARC.

i couldn't resist when i saw this on netgalley because i so enjoyed mariah's anne of gg graphic novel - i know the secret garden story probably from the movie because i don't think i've ever actually read the book (oops). so maybe i should have read the book first to really enjoy or understand it, but... meh. i still will read the book sometime this year, but i think this was perfectly enjoyable without having read the classic (or it having been *years* since i've seen the movie). i really like the art as well, but i knew i would going in because of anne of gg. i thought this was really well done and i did enjoy it.

I'd like to start this review saying that unfortunately “The Secret Garden” isn’t one of my favourite children’s classic books, this because I’ve always found Mary, the main character, a little bit too capricious and childish in my own opinion.
But this is my own problem, nothing to do with this adaptation.
I’m very happy to say that this graphic novel adaptation based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel was so well-done and detailed that I could stand that unpleasant character.

Mary is just ten years old when she arrives in a Manor in the greyish Yorkshire countryside, after losing her parents and moved there from colourful India. She’s so sad and alone that her only pastime is discovering the surroundings in the garden of the Manor. Until she finds out a secret garden full of flowers and beautiful plants, but there’s even more to discover in this run-down place, and other mysteries to unveil….

As I wrote, this classic isn’t my cup of tea, but thanks to this graphic novel I enjoyed every moment, especially the parts in the secret garden: the illustrations were so vivid and with a few brush strokes the scenes were detailed and clear.
So, not matter what are my thoughts on the classics, I highly recommend to give this graphic novel a chance, and I’m sure nobody will be disappointed after reading this cute graphic adaptation of a well-known children book.

I think this is a good rendition of 'The Secret Garden". The illustrations I felt left a little something to be desired, but I think this is a lovely way for many children to get the feel of a classic without having to divulge into the whole classic. I think it will be good for struggling readers also who want to read a classic story like this.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

Between every book that I read, I'm trying to read a children's book and this was the chosen one. I love this, this is cute, portrays magic in a really personal and peculiar way. I love this idea of magic being something of the nature, something that makes things happen, grow, exist. This is a simple book, one that I would love to read to my kids one day. Really great, the art is beautiful and an awesome book for children, but also people my age (I'm in my twenties now).

Thanks to NetGalley for this opportunity, that was a really nice read!

The Secret Garden was one of the first classic novels I read when I was younger and is definitely one of my favorites. This graphic novel isn't as detailed as the book itself but I feel like it really manages to capture the main characters well. However, I wish there was more of Mary's uncle and of Dickon. It not having as much details impacted the story telling in some areas, in particular Mary's backstory, but I assume it was glossed over a bit because it is kind of sad and dark and this is a children's graphic novel. I wish more plotlines had also been explored. This was a very comforting and heart warming short read and I really enjoyed the way it brought me back to my childhood. The art is simply gorgeous and I love the colors.

What a delightful little adaptation of The Secret Garden! This style of graphic novel is one of my favourites to buy for my classroom library. Graphic novel adaptations of children's classics can be a great way to introduce kids to some of these older novels. They are often much more interested in reading the full novel after (or, alternatively, I have some students who have read the classic who then love to read the graphic novel afterwards!).

I found this to be a nice adaptation for the format. The main gist of the story is faithfully retold. I worry that some of the details of the original story may go over the heads of some of my readers as there is a fair amount of interpretation needed at points. I appreciate some of the choices that the author made to not include some parts of the original which is addressed at the end of the book. The information section at the end is concise, clearly-written and adds interesting details to the overall book.

The best part of this adaptation was the illustrations. They were absolutely breathtaking! The style was simple and clean but really captured the transition from winter to spring in the moors of England beautifully. I would love to see the full page spreads in person!

The Secret Garden was a huge favourite of mine as a child.
I loved the idea of a garden that no one else could enter with gorgeous flowers and such mystery! It was also one of the first books I can remember having a child in a wheelchair. I have a cousin with cerebral palsy whose been confined to a wheelchair almost all his life I found this to be a very important point to note in my teenage years (my cousin is almost 10 years younger than me). This is one of those books like: Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, and others where I tread carefully with re-tellings or new formats as they hold a special place in my heart from when I was young. However I will admit that one of my own nieces (currently 8 yrs old) loves reading but tells me that graphic novels are "the best". As a comic collector I don’t disagree with her. And yet oddly, I feel like classics should be classics and remain in novel format most days. But in the interest of possibly having my niece and her sister's favourite medium to share The Secret Garden story I gave this adaptation a shot.

True to the original story, the sentiment is, that being outdoors, amongst gorgeous lowers, sunshine, birds and wildlife can only be positive. Additionally the bonds of friendship and how important it can be to be friendly to everyone; regardless of their station in life or if they ‘report’ to you. This is an important lesson for children (and everyone) to learn and be reminded of. I always remember my father telling me that ‘you never know who your next boss will be’; so try not to alienate anyone. Personally I’m not always very good at it (lol); and so it’s a good reminder.

The artwork is very simple and cute. It felt like it gave it the ‘older’ feel that this story has always held for me. I like that it’s clearly the same time period (as witnessed by the clothing and wheelchair). The copy of this story I kept from my childhood was actually highly illustrated on glossy paper. Similar to the graphic novel the colours in the home were muted; but within the garden (and most of outdoors) were vibrant. I also liked how many of the lines used in this format are the exact same as the novel. Making this a vey true to the book adaptation.
An excellent option to bring the younger generation into a story that still has a core message relevant today.

<I>Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.</I>

This retelling of the Secret Garden in graphic novel form is lovely, but has some issues with story-telling. I liked it, but it also has some flaws.

I liked the beautiful art style! The art is whimsical and sweet with bright colors. However, I didn't like that there were so many tiny panels on each page. It felt too busy.

There is very little dialogue, which makes it difficult to follow the progression of the story. In the original novel, we get to see the gradual character development of Colin and Mary. But with so little dialogue to give the reader clues about what is happening on that internal journey for the characters, the characters seem to leap ahead with no indication of what made them change.

There were a couple of places where the dialogue didn't make sense, because the story doesn't follow the natural progression of the original story. I think some of the scenes might have gotten mixed. In one scene, Mary tells Colin that Dickon is Martha's brother, and then in the very next scene, she mentions Dickon, and Colin asks, "Who is that?"
Sloppy story-telling.

I wish that they had stuck closer to the original story.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

Coming into this graphic novel without the nostalgia of previous adaptations definitely hinders the reading experience of Marsden's The Secret Garden. The charm and wordless-ness of the world is lovely, but much of the characters personality and plot gets lost in it. The art varies from carefully detailed, to feeling sloppy and unfinished, and at times the intricate, floral layouts takeover too much of the pages real-estate. For children who already are fond of the film or novel, this would be a nice addition to have, but otherwise I would not recommend this comic.

The Secret Garden is a gorgeous, vivid, and beautifully-illustrated visual retelling of a classic. I would love to share this book with students in classroom libraries and school libraries. Wonderful graphic novel work!

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for allowing me to read the book and post a review.

Scrolling through NetGalley, I stumbled upon this beautiful graphic novel, showing the beautiful story of The Secret Garden, originally written by Frances Hodgson Burnett. After having seen the film, I became intrigued by the story and I have been wanting to read the original book for a while now, so when I saw this graphic novel, adapted by Mariah Marsden and illustrated by Hanna Luechtefeld, I knew it would be a great way to get more familiar with the magical tale that is The Secret Garden.

The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary, a spoiled and self-centered girl born and raised in a wealthy British family in Colonial India. After the death of her parents, Mary is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, in his mansion in the Yorkshire countryside called Misselthwaite Manor. Hardly adapting to her new situation and being bored, Mary starts to wonder around Misselthwaite Manor and soon discovers a few of its secrets, including a beautiful secret garden hidden away, an enchanting place that will help Mary adapt and change into a happy girl eager to go on a hunt for fun and adventures.

The beautiful illustrations of the novel made sure I was sucked into the novel from the get go and that took me by surprise, quite a bit, as I’m not always the biggest fan of graphic novels. However, I truly loved how beautifully these illustrations were drawn and the way colours were used to mirror the emotions or state of the protagonist: Mary. On a rainy day, or whenever Mary would feel angry or sad, the colours would reflect that. Whenever she felt happy, primarily spending her time in the garden or meeting new friends, the colours would be bright and cheerful. I never expected to be able to get sucked into a graphic novel the way I did now and I truly enjoyed it, up to the point where I finished it in probably a record tempo for my doing.

I also enjoyed how the classic tale, which I can imagine to be quite challenging for young readers, was adapted to fit them perfectly and to become understandable for younger readers. For a minute, I had to get used to the small amount of text that was used but soon I noticed that a lot of thoughts, flashbacks or feelings Mary or other characters were experiencing were really conveyed through the illustrations and I think that that is a perfect way to reach the mind and imagination of a child.
However as an adult reader, I have to admit that I sometimes missed something that acted as a sort of guide or storyteller throughout the story, to indicate when a situation was changing for example, when night was turning into day for example, or when Mary relived one of her flashbacks concerning the death of her parents. But then again, I’m an adult reader and I think that for children, especially due to their colourful imaginations, using illustrations is perhaps a way better to way to explain a certain situation or certain feelings or emotions.

It was also a nice surprise to find more information on both the author as well as the different places portrayed in the novel. I thought that was a very nice touch, also to allow young, modern readers to become familiar with classic authors. At first I was a bit confused as to why the part concerning Colonial India was left out, except for a few of Mary’s flashbacks, but then I came across the explanation provided by the creators of the book, that they felt it wouldn’t do justice to the history of the British oppression in colonial India and I understood their choice, which I found to be a respectful as well as thoughtful choice.
The added glossary was also a very nice touch. The novel doesn’t contain many difficult words, in my opinion, but it was nice to see that, for the few that were in there, a glossary was added together with a nice description explaining the difficult words used and often a page number referring them back to that word. I thought that was a nice touch that I feel should be added to more books (especially for young readers).

In conclusion, The Secret Garden: A Graphic Novel was a truly lovely read which definitely also made me even more interested in reading the original novel. I think it's a great way to introduce younger readers to engage more with classical stories and allow them, as well as adults, to see how the magic of certain classics just never truly disappears. The Secret Garden: The Graphic Novel was a definite 4/5 stars for me!

Mary is an orphan except her uncle has been found. She is going to live in his home. Mary doesn’t understand why she can’t see her uncle or check out the other rooms in the house. Eventually she goes outside to look at the gardens. One day she discovers a locked garden door. When she goes to ask the maid about it, the maid tells her no one can talk or go into that garden. The key has been thrown away. Mary does find the key and goes into the garden. It is an abandoned garden and gone wild. She decides to work on it. She meets a boy who can talk to animals when she leaves the garden. Later, she meets him again as her servant writes to her brother to buy and bring the seeds. Where will Mary grow the seeds? One night she hears a mysterious sound which the servant is answering Mary’s questing by telling her it’s the wind. She doesn’t believe it. Will she find out what makes the noise?

I read “The Secret Garden” that is the original book. I must say that while it is a delightful graphic novel, I think that some of the magic of the abbreviated story is missing. I love the colors and drawings of the graphic novel illustrations. They are done so perfectly for this story. I enjoyed the story.

I received an eARC of this title in return for an honest review.

I loved this adaptation of The Secret Garden. I thought it was accessible to its audience with all the notes afterwards. It’s a great way to introduce children to different words and biographies.

The story itself was very much written for children which is its intended audience. The story was watered down enough to keep the reader interested, but kept all the important aspects of the story.

I loved the artwork. I think it would even look better in print with the panels and full page art.

I loved this book! Growing up, The Secret Garden was one of my favorite stories. I was aprehensive starting this, how could anything ever live up to the original?

This book managed to capture all of the magic and wonder of the original in such a unique and beautiful way. The illustrations brought new life to Mary, Collin, Dickon, and the rose garden and transported me back to the wonderful world of the book.

I also loved how the colonisation aspect of the novel was retold. Mary's time in India and her parents were not glorified as they were in the original but instead revisited much more briefly. The informational passage at the end was respectful, thoughful and brought this story into the modern world as something every child can enjoy.

Seeing people put thought and care into a story I love so much makes very, very happy.