The Secret Garden (Audio CD)

Fer children's classics can match the charm and originality of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, the unforgettable story of sullen, sulky Mary Lennox, the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. When a cholera epidemic leaves her as an orphan, Mary is sent to England to live with her reclusive uncle, Archibald Craven, at Misselthwaite Manor. Unloved and unloving, Mary wanders the desolate moors until one day she chances upon the door of a secret garden. What follows is one of the most beautiful tales of transformation in children's literature, as Mary her sickly and tyrannical cousin Colin and a peasant boy named Dickson secretly strive to make the garden bloom once more.

A unique blend of realism and magic, The Secret Garden remains a moving expression of every child's need to nurture and be nurtured--a story that has captured for all time the rare and enchanted world of childhood.

Josephine Bailey was born in England and trained in performing arts at the Corona Academy in London. As a child, Josephine appeared in many feature films before going on to become a professional dancer. Returning to her love of acting has led to her recent performances for Hanna Barbera, Walt Disney and Nickleodeon.

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) grew up in England, but she began writing what was to become "The Secret Garden "in 1909, when she was creating a garden for a new home in Long Island, New York. Burnett was already established as a novelist for adults when she turned to writing for children. "Little Lord Fauntleroy", written for her two young boys; the play "A Little Princess", which became the basis for the novel of the same name; and "The Secret Garden "are the works for which she is most warmly remembered.