The classics - Children's

How is it possible that until now I had never read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett? After all, it's a children's classic, up there with Little Women, Make Way for Ducklings and The Pokey Little Puppy.

More importantly, The Secret Garden was my mom's favorite book as a child and one that she mentioned frequently as an adult. "Oh, I loved The Secret Garden so much. What, you haven't read it?" I wish I'd read it when she was around to talk about it. I wish I knew when she read it or what she loved so much about it. But alas, the time to ask these questions is long past. Sadly, I was never really interested in picking up my mom's favorite book to read - until I saw the musical show in Philadelphia last week. I thought I knew the story but I really only knew minimal parts. I was sobbing at the end.

I'm not sure that the list I found on goodreads (click here to review the list) is even close to being definitive. My reading in children's classics would be severely lacking had I a) not become a mother, b) not taken a reading class in graduate shool and c) not been an elementary school teacher! I was such a bookworm as a kid, reading whenever I could. Was I just reading the popular children's books of the times? Think: Bobbsey Twins, All of A Kind Family, and Nancy Drew.

Just looking at the top six on this list, I read James and the Giant Peach after I'd seen the movie with my kids. Same with Matilda. Each year, as a fifth grade teacher, I'd read a book along with each one of my students. (Obviously they weren't too big on the classics either!) But if it hadn't been for that project, I probably never would have read Charlotte's Web! A Wrinkle in Time (#1 only) I read for an assignment in my graduate reading class. Should I be embarrassed to say that I still haven't read The Witches?

Thankfully, members of my Books & Beer Club are into the classics. I've read many adult classics I never thought to touch before... and the children's classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Seriously! I hadn't even read that!

Going further down the list, I'm actually not sure if I read Stuart Little as a child or if I read it after I'd seen the movie with my kids. As a teacher, I started The Boxcar Children which I somehow missed as a young mom, even though I know it was a favorite amongst my mommy friends. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein wasn't around when I was a kid so I've got a good reason for not coming across that one until I was a teacher. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the first chapter book that my nearly 30-year old son and I read together.

I know that lots of readers avoid the classics because there's too much good current fiction out there. But in my 50s, it's nice to take a step back and embrace these books that I missed the first time around.

Now to dive back into The Secret Garden.