The Secret Garden

“I didn’t need to re-read this book, as I remember so much about it. I must have read it countless times in my life. It had an enormous effect on me growing up. It made me realize how important to have the natural world is for every child.” Read more...

Clare Morpurgo on Penguin Paperbacks

Clare Morpurgo, Children's Author

“I read this book when I was about 10 or 11. I love the idea of a secret place – of having a key to a place where nobody else can go. Of all the books that have had an impact on my consciousness, this has had the biggest — although I didn’t realise it at the time. When I first read it, I read it on a superficial level – a recently orphaned girl is sent to stay with distant relatives, there is a mystery, there is a cool kid who knows about gardening and there is a sick kid. But it has stayed in my head in a way that other books haven’t. The redemptive power of the natural world and gardening was something that struck a chord with me, because it was absent from my life – I didn’t garden.” Read more...

The Best Nature Books for Kids

M G Leonard, Children's Author