Synopses & Reviews
'\'\\\'\\\\\\\'The New York Review Children\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Collection began in 2003 in an attempt to reward readers who have long wished for the return of their favorite titles and to introduce those books to a new generation of readers. The line publishes picture books for preschoolers through to chapter books and novels for older children. Praised for their elegant design and sturdy bindings, these books set a new standard for the definition of a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"classic.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Among the 40 titles included in this collection you will find Wee Gillis, a Caldecott Honor Book by the creators of The Story of Ferdinand; Esther Averill\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s time-honored Jenny and the Cat Club series; The House of Arden by E. Nesbit, one of J.K. Rowling\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favorite writers; several titles by the award-winning team of Ingri and Edgar Parin d\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'Aulaire, including their Book of Norse Myths and Book of Animals; James Thurber\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s The Thirteen Clocks and The Wonderful O, both with illustrations by Marc Simont. Not to be missed is the classic animal adventure story Bel Ria by Sheila Burnford, the author of The Incredible Journey; Lucretia Hale\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s hilarious The Peterkin Papers; James Cloyd Bowman\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Newbery Honor Book, Pecos Bill; and holiday favorites by John Masefield, The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights.\\\\\\\'\\\'\''
Synopsis
A much-loved English novel reminiscent of
The Secret GardenSomeone has dug up the private garden in the square and taken buckets of dirt, and Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of boys from run-down Catford Street must be to blame. But Angela's sister Olivia isn't so sure. Olivia wonders why the neighborhood children—the “sparrows” she sometimes watches from the window of her house —have to be locked out of the garden. Don't they have a right to enjoy the place, too? But neither Angela nor Olivia has any idea what sent the neighborhood waif Lovejoy Mason and her few friends in search of “good, garden earth.” Still less do they imagine where their investigation of the incident will lead them—to a struggling restaurant, a bombed-out church, and at the heart of it all, a hidden garden.
About the Author
Rumer Godden (1907–1998) grew up in India, where her father ran a steamship company. When her husband left her penniless in Calcutta with two daughters to raise, she started to write books to pay off her many debts. She wrote more than sixty books for adults and young adults, including The Doll’s House, Impunity Jane, The Greengage Summer, An Episode of Sparrows and The Mousewife.