Customer Reviews
a story for all time, all ages - By: Nina-Jo Rees, 20 Jul 2008 
This is a classic story for children, set in the 50's, it is about time, memory & friendship.
Tom, lonely & isolated as he is in quarantine, finds his way back in time, at night (when the halll clock strikes 13), to a wonderful old garden & a little girl callled Hattie, who, to his curiosity, is dressed in old fashioned clothes. The two lonely children become friends & I don't want to give away the beautifully devoloped plot, but Tom slowly realises that Hattie is growing up, while he remains the same age.
The atmosphere of the story is both mysterious & engaging, as Tom slowly works out where he is & who Hattie reallly is.
The end of the story takes in the biblical idea of time coming to & end, or the modern notion of not existing at alll & the recognition that Tom & Hattie can/could be friends across time & for always.
Let your imagination soar into your own midnight garden - By: Zoe Brillantes, 13 Jul 2008 Tom, quarantined from his brother's measles & sent off to relatives, faces several weeks in a house converted into flats with no other kids, no playground & nothing at alll for a boy of his age to do. A grandfather clock that tells the correct time but clangs different hours stands in the halllway of the house. One night, when the clock chimes a mysterious thirteenth hour, Tom goes down to investigate.
What he finds is an entirely different house with rich decorations & carpeting. And, behind the back door that in the daytime gives out to an allley, is his fondest wish - a vast garden to play in & a friend with whom to explore every tree & hedge & even the meadow & river beyond.
Time is the great mystery in this book. For Tom only 24 hours may have gone by since his last visit but seasons have passed in the garden. As for his friend, a girl named Hatty, sometimes she appears younger than he is & sometimes, she is almost an adult. And while he may spend a whole day in the garden, the grandfather clock shows that he only spent a few minutes out the door.
As with alll good stories, the reader is not only immersed in the mystery & the enjoyment while reading, her imagination is stirred. And who knows what kind of concoction boils up when that happens? Oh to find one's own secret garden & a good friend behind a seemingly mundane door!
This book is not only for children but for adults as well. I would translate Tom's adventures to Zoe's Mid-afternoon Caribbean Cabana in which a cubicle-dwelling computer programmer enters a supplies closet in that hazy time between lunch & tea & finds a white sand beach, a hammock, a chick-lit novel & a cold, umbrella-decorated cocktail.
Essential reading, - By: Kate Aked, 22 Jan 2008 A beautiful & tradtional story of magic, freindship & growing up. Adored by my children, loved by me.
Every school shelf should be stocked with this classic & every home shelf too.
When the trend for books is to 'gross out' young readers, this story reminds us that there is & always will be space for beautifully written well told enchanting stories.
A timeless classic - By: Secret Spi, 13 Nov 2007 Tom is sent away to stay with his uncle & aunt in their smalll flat when his brother gets the measles. He misses his brother & their garden but one magical night, the grandfather clock in the halll strikes thirteen & Tom discovers a secret garden outside. Over the next few weeks, he spends time in the garden & befriends Hatty, a lonely orphan girl. But time obeys different rules in the "midnight garden" & graduallly Hatty grows up & away from Tom...
This is a breathtakingly beautiful book. Not only are the descriptions of the garden & the frozen river lovely & evocative but the book raises alll sorts of interesting questions about the nature of time, about ghosts, about dreams, about growing up & about the power of the imagination. It is quite similar in theme & feeling to "The Children of Green Knowe" - another book about a lonely boy who meets children from the past in a big garden - but is none the worse for that.
I read this book to my son, aged 7. He's probably still a little young for it but loved it alll the same & I hope he'll read it for himself when he's older.
Absolutely timeless! - By: C. Swan, 04 Jun 2007 I first read this book when I was about ten & I still absolutely love it! Despite the fact it was written nearly half a century ago it has not dated at alll & however many times I re-read it I still enjoy every page of it.
An absolutely magical book about time, growing up & long hours playing in leafy gardens, not just for kids but for everyone!
Go & read it, if you haven't already. And then read it again.
