I would like to share a new book for you adults and children will enjoy. If you were to see the cover of The Secret Gardens of Francis Hodson Burnett (Heroes Remembered, 2) by Angelica Shirley Carpenter (Author), Helena Pérez García (Illustrator) you might think it’s a children book. I received a copy of the book in exchange for this review. Inside this post is my affiliate links. If you click on the links and you make a purchase I might make a small percentage from the items you purchased.
You might say The Secret Gardens of Francis Hodson Burnett (Heroes Remembered, 2) this book is more for adults or gardeners but the book is written by Angelica Shirley Carpenter (Author), about a the Author Francis Hodson Burnett.
Before I share my thoughts with you on The Secret Gardens I would like to let you know this is a Book-For-Book which means when you purchase a book a book is given to a child in need. The Bushel & Peck Book-For-Book promise.
Before I share my review with you as a child I remember my grandmother Dorie always saying I love you a Bushel & a Peck and a Hug Around the Neck and The Secret Gardens was like a hug around the neck for my family.
I love the cover of The Secret Gardens of Francis Hodson Burnett (Heroes Remembered, 2) with has a picture on it of a home and a Bird with a circle cut out and we can see a lady in a sunhat in her garden picking a pretty purple Flower. I wish I had a flower like that in my garden to bring inside to my dinning room table to dress dinner up.
Make sure when you start to read the book that you take time to read the quote shared from the Author Francis Hodson Burnett. We find out Fanny Hodgson lives in a ordinary house with ordinary furniture. But Fanny isn’t ordinary.
With the blink of her eye Fairies filled her Rosebushes. With the wave of her hand Elephants and Tigers appear. The Clouds become maps of Islands and Mountains Fanny could imagine anything. Isn’t that cool?
One day mom says they are moving to Town because she was a widow with 5 children. her mom ran the her husbands store and the City would be closer to her work. Everything in the City was grey even the children trudging through the dark mornings.
There was a wall with a green door which was locked, One day it opened as if by magic. Inside was a walled garden filled with Weeds. Not for long Fanny turned the Weeds into Flowers. Years passed and life got harder.
Fanny had to drop out of school and mom sold the store. Then they heard from a Uncle. He said he could find work for the boys. They cross the Atlantic to get to them. There new home was a Log Cabin in Tennessee which we studied in our Homeschool History Lessons on States.
The boys didn’t make as much money as they thought they would. The family would go hungry at times. There were o, jobs for girls. But Fanny started a job and she created the first School. The kids paid there fees with food. Fanny build a secret room behind her house using the Vines and branches.
Fanny decides she will write a story. She sold her story which feed her family. She sold enough stories to move the family to Knoxville. She marries a doctor and they have two sons. Her sons asked her to write a book little boys would like which she did.
No, I am not going to tell you what book it is because I think you should pick up a copy of The Secret Gardens to share with your family and friends. Through the sales of the book her family was able to travel to different Countries.
Then tragedy struck not once but twice and again I am not going to tell you what happens because you need to read the book to find out. Eight yeas have passed and she is living in Maytham Hall a Country estate in the South Of England where she created her own garden.
Still again something sad happens and to find out what it was you will need to read The Secret Gardens of Francis Hodson Burnett (Heroes Remembered, 2). I can tell you at times the story almost brought me to Tears but I learned from the Story and plan on sharing the book with my nieces and nephews and to check out the books she wrote and I hope you will as well.
In the back of the book is more information on the Author which could be used in a Language Arts Class. Along with a Timeline which we can follow along with in the story. We learn how to cultivate our imagination not only as a child but when we grow up.
About the book: Angelica Shirley Carpenter
Angelica Shirley Carpenter was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She has lived also in Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, Colorado, Ontario, Florida, and Kingston-upon-Thames, a suburb of London. Angelica writes biographies for young people and older readers, too. Her subjects are authors—Frances Hodgson Burnett, L. Frank Baum, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lewis Carroll, and Matilda Joslyn Gage.
Angelica speaks for teachers, librarians, writers, book clubs, students, bookstore groups, and other audiences. Her photographs appear in her books and in her illustrated talks.
Angelica lives with her husband in Fresno, California. A self-proclaimed Oz nut, she is a past president of the International Wizard of Oz Club. In her former life she was a librarian, the founding curator of the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University, Fresno. She likes to read, travel, shop, cook, watch movies, and listen to rock and roll (not all at the same time).
Her website is www.angelicacarpenter.com.
