“The Secret Garden” is a classic children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett that I remembered enjoying when I was young, so I’m delighted to have discovered this children’s graphic novel adapted by Mariah Marsden and illustrated by Hanna Luechtefeld.

If you’ve read the novel before, you’ll be no stranger to the story of Mary Lennox, a 10-year-old girl who was taken in by a mostly-absent but well-to-do uncle after the death of her parents and placed in the care of his household staff. Having been spoilt by servants while her parents were still alive, the sullen and rude Mary finds herself trying to adapt to her new environment on the secluded estate. As she slowly comes out of her shell and befriends the maid, the maid’s brother, the gardener, and even a cute little robin, she discovers that the estate holds its own mysteries - strange wailing noises at night and tales of a secret locked-away garden. Alongside her explorations, she learns how friendship and kinship can cure even the loneliest of hearts.

This graphic novel is beautifully illustrated in full colour. I loved how Mary blossomed from a rude and sullen kid to a cheerful and happier person under the friendship of Martha the maid, followed by the rest of people she meets along the way. Her growth is evident by how she learnt to see from other people’s perspectives instead of just her own. The novel also touched on heavier issues like self-esteem which although might be a concept difficult for children to grasp, are presented in simple questions like “Do you like yourself?”.

I enjoyed reading the background of Frances Hodgson Burnett and the setting of the book at the end. I think this is a graphic novel that will appeal to young children, especially with the story simplified alongside such charming illustrations.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the e-ARC.

ahh this graphic novel brought so much nostalgia towards the story. i've never read the book, but seen the movie in middle school which was brilliant. the pictures in this book were so cute and adorable 😩 i thoroughly loved it!! xx

*3.5 stars

This book was incredibly beautiful, the illustrations were of course my absolute favorite part. I read original The Secret Garden many many years ago and found it just okay. I think the heart of the story, which was seen in this book is what I liked most about the story. In addition, I appreciated that the background in regards to Mary being a daughter of British colonizer's was left out. The reason was acknowledged in the back of the book mentioning how when Britain ruled India and the amount of oppression that Indian people went through could not be summed up in this story. (I also don't think it should be. I don't think that particular point in the book is important and the story very much stands on its own without it). I think this was the perfect media for this book to be published in and I did enjoy it quite a bit. The characters of course from the original The Secret Garden are pretty annoying in the beginning (a lot of privilege) but we do see them grow throughout the novel which I appreciate. I would actually recommend this over the original book.

An adorable comic to introduce your younger reader to this classic. The origin of all grumpy girls opens up to the world in style. The illustrations are gorgeously cute and the adaptation kept the whole spirit of the work. A very nice addition to any girl's bookshelf.

The Secret Garden is one of my all-time favorite books, up there with Anne of Green Gables. I wasn’t sure if a graphic novel version would stand up to the original classic, but this book was as charming and enchanting as the original. The beautiful drawings told this lovely story in such a simple and beautiful way. I definitely felt all the warm fuzzies I felt reading the original. I would 100% buy this book for my shelf of children’s literature for my own kids.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McNeel Publishing for a digital galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are entirely my own. I have always loved the story of The Secret Garden and thought that this graphic novel did a good job of capturing it. The pictures were beautiful and the characters were easy to fall in love with. It is a beautiful story of found family and finding positivity in everything. The only thing I wish for is that it explained the backstories of the characters a bit more like in the book. It also didn't really explain about the death of the mother and the importance of her with the garden which is a key element in the story. All in all, I still think it was a good adaption and good for younger and older audiences.

Growing up I absolutely adored the Secret Garden. When I had the chance to read this via NetGalley I was very happy. This book is very colourful, and I can imagine a lot of kids reading this will enjoy finding the Secret Garden in this book. This book also includes an added glossary, which is handy for any terms or words one may not know.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

The Secret Garden is the second adaptation of a classic by Mariah Marsden that I read and I have to tell you that I fell in love with this book as I did with her Anne of Green Gables adaptation. What a delight this book was! I've always liked The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and this book really brings out the best things from the original - Mary's transformation over the book, the mysterious secret garden, Dickon - and it was all possible because of the style of illustration. Don't you just love those mini panels on all the pages?

I am going to buy this and all of Marsden's future adaptations (I really hope there will be more) for my daughter.

The secret garden was one of my favourite books growing up. I think it was one of the first ever chapters books I read. To see it as a graphic novel was so heartwarming and amazing. the art is absolutely incredible and a true masterpiece.

This graphic novel adaptation of The Secret Garden offers a familiar tale with simple art. As I began reading, the muted color palette stood out to me, and I wondered if they would become more vibrant and saturated as the story progressed, following the narrative. They did not, but the muted colors could have been due, in part, to original cmyk colors being displayed on a computer. This story may have been aided by more detailed art that focused more on the scenery and wonder of the garden, but overall, the simplicity of Hanna Luechtefeld's art served the story.

The additional materials at the back of the book (setting, glossary, short Frances Hodgson Burnett bio) provided necessary information for contemporary readers (especially about Brittish colonialization/oppression in India).

I received an e-arc of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars

The Secret Garden will forever be one of my favorite children's books so when I saw this graphic novel version I needed to read it.

While the art style isn't something that I typically go for in graphic novels, I do feel that it still fit the book rather well. It gave me a sort of Madeline vibes in the art style and definitely made me feel a bit closer to the time frame this story takes place. The graphic novel is a great new way to enjoy the beautiful story of The Secret Garden and I loved the facts that were included at the end of the graphic novel. Overall a wonderful new imagining of a beloved classic children's book.

I loved this graphic novel depiction of The Secret Garden. I have yet to read the original work but have watched the movie countless times and this piece of art really captured all of the feelings the movie gives me. I think this is the perfect GN to start off Spring, it's so bright and full of greens and florals that I felt like I wanted to be in the book! I also think that this was the perfect length and depth for a children's GN, it covered all of the plot without hitting some of the darker parts too deeply that might have been hard visually for children. I also enjoyed the fact that the authors use the end of the book to talk about why they decided to not include pieces of the story and to ask questions and talk about the story and the plants within it! I think the style of the art and the colors perfectly captured the vibes of the original story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and, Andrews McMeel Publishing for my ARC!

I was granted eARC access to The Secret Garden graphic novel adaptation by Mariah Marsden and Hannah Luechtefeld through NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

This graphic novel adaptation is all the important beats and dialogue of the original classic children's tale trimmed down to fit into 192 illustrated pages. This is a great option for younger readers, less confident readers, and less interested readers who still want or need to read The Secret Garden. It's both more entertaining and more accessible than reading the original text without losing anything that made the original what it is.

The art style reminds me of Madeline, but with epically expressive and hilarious facial expressions and a livelier colour palette, and I love it!

I am not familiar with this classic but reading this book was so much fun. The illustrations is absolutely beautiful especially all of the flowers and the garden. This is such a fun and memorable read about surrounding by good company and the gorgeous surrounding of making the secret garden alive again. I would recommend other readers to read this graphic novel for those familiar and unfamiliar with this tale.

I'd been wanting to read The Secret Garden for a while now, so when I saw this graphic novel version on NetGalley, I got really excited. I absolutely love reading graphic novels because I love seeing how they bring the story alive and I think this one did a pretty good job. I want to emphasize "think" because I haven't read the classic so I can't really say how good of a job this graphic novel did of translating the story into a graphic one. However, I can with certainty say that I absolutely loved the artwork and felt that it did a great job of expressing the magical element of the story. If it depended on the artwork alone, I would have rated this book 5 stars, but it also depends on the actual story and that's why I had to rate it 3.5 stars. For someone who had not read this story before, it felt like the story was a bit too general and moved too quickly from event to event. I understand that not all content can fit into a graphic novel version, but I do think more could've gone into it. All in all, this was a quick and fun read and I'm happy to have finally read a version of this classic.

The art and text of this graphic version is very reminiscent of the film with Kate Maberly, and the story is somewhat abridged. I love the color palette!

Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden" has always been a favourite of mine, and this was a sweet homage to the original story. The drawings were clear and charming, and I loved the style of them. Simplistic without being basic, somehow.

That said, I don't think I would recommend this graphic novel to somebody who hadn't read the original book - or at least, only to children too young for the full-length book. There's very little dialogue indeed, with most of the story being told through the pictures - which works quite well, as it's not a very complex plot, but it does mean that quite a lot has to be left out.

But as a quick reminder for somebody who has read the book several times? A lovely reminder, that only served to make me feel like rereading the original.

💚 Thank you, Net Galley, author, and publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this beautifully illustrated graphic novel of The Secret Garden that will be available June 2021.

⚘The story was sweetly done, but anyone who has read the original version will notice a few differences, which left the overall storyline a bit lacking. The real review, in my opinion, is based on the artwork of the illustrator. I've never seen the artwork of Hanna Luechtefeld before, and this graphic novel was beautifully done. It's exactly how I pictured the novel in my mind when I read the original novel many years ago. I can definitely see this artwork appealing to young children. I would recommend this book as a read-along, or to a child who isn't interested in reading the actual novel itself. This would be a cute replacement.

I also really enjoyed the background on the book and author, and the glossary of terms included in the end.

⚘I gave this book five stars due to the illustration, but in regards to the actual story, I would probably give it three stars.

I've never read the original Secret Garden, but this graphic novel adaptation is so good it makes me want to. The piece is a beautiful exploration of friendship, nature, magic, and grief, told in exquisite hand-done done drawings that are so detailed and atmospheric. The graphic novel format allows the storytellers to zoom and focus the story on moments and details in a way that is so enticing. The book feels like a Victorian storybook with a fresh twist.

I found the story itself to be lacking to parts, especially when Mary Lennox didn't feel like a fully formed character and the story of Colin relied on ableist tropes. However, this is the fault of a century-old source text, and not the beautiful adaptation.

The storytellers chose to leave out the backstory of British colonialism in India, but do address it in a section in the back of the book on “Places and Spaces in The Secret Garden.” Also included in the back of the book is an overview on the life of the original author of The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett, and a glossary of terms including flora and fauna, all of which I found to be enriching supplements to the graphic novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the ARC.

This is a beautiful way to introduce this classic to young readers! I loved the illustrations. There’s a beautiful contrast between the gloomy gothic feeling of the first part of the book, with the color and light of the garden.