Official Review: Secret Garden by Veronica Red

[Annelore Trujillo]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Secret Garden" by Veronica Red.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Secret Garden: Earth Child by Veronica Red is a children’s picture book about planting a garden. The main character of the book tells this story from her point of view. She wakes up and gets ready to begin her day. She eats a good breakfast, gets all of the tools she will need ready, and gets to work planting her garden. What kinds of flowers will she plant? You’ll have to read this book to see how her garden turns out.

I was a little surprised that this book was written in a poetic format. I usually enjoy this style, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to. There was a faint rhyming pattern used. However, it wasn’t very consistent, and some of the rhyming pairs were a stretch. For example, “wings” and “in” were paired and “grounded” and “crowns it” were paired. In a book intended for an adult audience, I would think that rhyming pairs like this would work. Unfortunately, I don’t think a young audience would appreciate it as much. The formatting and editing of the poetry verses were also a bit inconsistent. Punctuation, capitalization and line breaks differed from page to page.

I was also a little disappointed that there wasn’t really a rising action or a climax in the book. The vocabulary and format of the book made it seem like it was written for school-age children. Preschool children don’t necessarily need a problem and solution for the book to hold their attention. School-age children often do, especially since they are learning about these elements in school. Without these elements, the book has a monotone feel to it.

My favorite part of the book was that it can show children that they too can create something beautiful. This is a great lesson to teach them, and this book does a good job of it. The character in this book works on the garden all on her own. This can be motivating for children that read it. I think that it could also get children engaged in gardening, which is a skill not many people have. I know I would love it if my children took up an interest in gardening.

The illustrations in this book were also great. I liked that they were colorful, and they did a great job showing off the garden as it was being planted. They followed the main character and her actions, and they helped tell the story. These pictures would definitely capture the attention of children, and they would help children follow along as the book is read to them.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars, but I probably would have given it a 2.5 if I could. Overall, I was a little let down by the content of this book, but I still enjoyed it. The pictures were great, but the overall execution of the story could use some work, which is why I didn’t give it a perfect score. The message was good and many children and parents might enjoy this book, which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of 2. I would recommend this book for a preschool to school-age audience, and I would recommend that parents or teachers read the book to children to avoid confusion by the formatting.

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Secret Garden
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Like anneloretrujillo's review? Post a comment saying so!

[spencermack]

It sounds like the message of this book is a creative idea but not as well executed as it should be. Great review.

[0017meow]

For a preschool kids.. I think a simple ABC and spelling books with beautiful illustrations are enough ,but this book can't be ignore because parents can use it as bedtime story ...truthfully this book really can increase bonding time between children and their parents in various ways

[IamShing]

I like this, my mother is a great fan of plants. In fact, she has a huge garden in our backyard lawn.

[kandscreeley]

I like the thought of the story, but the rhymes you mentioned are a bit far fetched. Thanks, but I think it needs a bit of work before I'd really pick it up for any children.

[Juliana_Isabella]

Thanks for the review. I like the idea that the book encourages children to get involved in nature.

[Diana Lowery]

I agree that gardening is something that should be encouraged in children, and doing it through a children's book seems like a good idea. It is too bad that the format was not appealing to you, though.

[Janelle Juncos]

My toddler loves a good rhyming book, but the sentences have to be fairly short and simple, like in "Good Night, Moon." The author makes a bold move titling the book similarly to a classic novel and it seems to beg a comparison that, gleaning from your review, falls short. Thanks for the review!

[Mbrooks2518]

It's too bad that there were some issues with it, but it sounds like a very informative book that will get kids interested in growing things. My mom's going to have a garden this year, and my niece and nephew will be helping her, so I might get this book for them. Thanks for the review.

[Eclecticmama]

As someone who reads two bedtime stories a night, I appreciate a good children's book. Based on your review, I really don't think this one would hook my five-year-old son. My two-year-old daughter would appreciate the pictures and would love the garden references since she loves flowers so much. For me as the reader, the rhyming inconsistencies would aggravate me, possibly to the point of avoiding this book, lol. Great honest review!