The Secret Gardens of Frances Hodgson Burnett

Ages 4 to 8

An exquisite picture book biography of one of the most beloved children’s authors of all time, Frances Hodgson Burnett, author of The Secret Garden.????

“Beauties blossom aplenty in this welcome volume. The Secret Gardens of Frances Hodgson Burnett can’t fail to captivate the minds and hearts of young readers and even, perhaps, plant some seeds there.”—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked?Secret gardens, hidden gates, flowering passageways. A picture book biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett's winding and captivating life. ????

Frances could not believe her ears.How could Mamma make them move to the city?And how could Frances leave her country garden?Who would see the magic when the sweetbriar bloomed?Who would look for tigers in the rose bushes?Who would pick the strawberries?

Frances Hodgson Burnett—best known for writing The Secret Garden, Little Lord Fauntleroy, and The Little Princess—had a difficult childhood, losing her father when she was very young and moving with her family from England to Tennessee in hopes of a better life. She’d been making up stories her entire life but didn’t try to write professionally until she was a teenager to help feed her family. Her first submissions to a magazine were published and she eventually became well known all over the world. This is Hodgson Burnett’s life story, told in lyrical prose evoking some of the same magic of her own stories.

About the Author

Angelica Shirley Carpenter 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. She 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.Helena Pérez García is a Spanish illustrator whose work has appeared across magazines, newspapers, packaging, and books for children and adults internationally. Her illustrations are conceptual, whimsical, and rich in detail and color. Helena's primary medium is gouache, and her main sources of inspiration are art, literature, and cinema. After completing a fine arts degree in Spain, Helena relocated to London in 2012, where she lived and worked for six years. During this period, and driven by the artistic history and cultural influences of the city and the country, Helena developed her characteristic style. She relocated to Madrid in 2018, where she is currently based. Some of her clients include Penguin Random House, The Body Shop, Tate Publishing, The Financial Times, Reader's Digest, and Il Corriere della Sera, amongst many others.