Reading Response Journal: The Secret Garden

How do you judge a book with many covers? It’s a very intriguing proposition, indeed. I thought I’d turn in for the night after finishing my quota of papers to mark for the day.

But I gave in to my curiosity whipped up by the terrific title of Denise Chung’s reading response journal, “Judging a Book by its Many Covers.” (Denise is one of my students in Children’s Literature.)

It was well worth the extra hour I stayed awake for the day. I hope you’ll enjoy reading Denise’s paper as much as I have.

Judging a Book by its Many Covers

by Denise Chung

www.coverbrowser.com

To begin, I would like to use a parallel concept from the music world. In the context of popular music, Wikipedia defines a ‘cover’ as a new rendition of a prior recording and commercially released song.

Applying this concept to the literary world, books whose stories have been transposed onto other platforms of expression can be said to have accumulated new ‘covers’. And through my reading response journal, I have learnt to appreciate the transitions and transformations of the classic story, The Secret Garden.

Entry 1: 30th January 2009
The problem about watching a film adaptation of a book before actually reading the book is the difficulty of separating images from the film from the text of the novel. I had watched the film ‘The Secret Garden’ (1993) before reading the book.

And though I had watched the movie many years ago, I liked it so much I wanted to read the book for my reading response journal. So when I finally got to read the book, I was extremely happy that it didn’t disappoint. The reading experience was as magical as the film had been.

It made me search youtube.com for clips of the movie and refresh my visual memory. In my search, I stumbled across some more video snippets of the Broadway musical version ‘The Secret Garden’ as well as many other adaptations of the story into theatre screenplays.

My exposure to the various adaptations of The Secret Garden has increased my respect for the original novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The author has deftly written a classic story with the ability to inspire beyond its time.

As a storyteller of sorts myself, I wish to be able to claim, one day, such an achievement through my creations. It is also heartening to know that a story need not be confined to the limitations of a printed book. (Summerfield, 2006)

Many classic tales have been given a second life, compliments of various film and theatre adaptations. For example, The Secret Garden was written in 1911 and was later adapted into a major motion picture.

Advancements in technology, like the extensive influence of the Internet, have also aided in spreading the contents of the book beyond its physical form, making it available to a wider audience.

Entry 2: 26th February 2009
I was looking for the ‘Charlie & the Chocolate Factory’ picture book for the class presentation when I came across a copy of ‘The Secret Garden’ on the same shelf. They were in the restricted section of the NIE library, which had a copy of all the reading materials recommended on the course reading list.

What surprised me was the design of the book cover! It was so bright and cheery, a vast difference from my own copy of the story. My book had a simple green and white cover, no illustration.

The actual physical cover of the novel has seen much change as well. Over the years, the book has had various reprints and updates to the accompanying illustrations. The story has been repackaged for different groups of readers, targeting both the young and old.

As good as the contents of a book may be, it is hard to deny the appeal of an attractive cover and the instinct to pick up a book based on the physical attractiveness of its cover.

The reinvention of the physical appearance of The Secret Garden has probably been a major factor in attracting new fans to the book. Personally, I was attracted to the simplicity of the book I bought as it gave me an opportunity to create my own ‘cover’ for the book, as described in the journal entry below:

Entry 3: 5th March 2009
I was in book-making class today and the assignment was to learn a new binding technique. The interesting thing is that we had to tear out the covers of grubby paperback novels, and bind them with a new hard cover.

I thought that it would really be a waste to use a brand new cover on a book I didn’t have a relationship with. Fortunately, I had my copy of ‘The Secret Garden’ in my bag. And it made me really happy to be able to use the book as part of my assignment material!

Having read the book over and over again, it was exciting to be able to create a pretty and new hardcover for a story that I have grown so fond of.

My reading response journal has made me aware of how a book could grow from its paperbound form into other media. Versatility of books to adapt to social change has allowed classic stories to survive beyond their times, and this is a good insight to learn.

Even in the story of The Secret Garden, there is a recurring theme of rejuvenation. This is seen in the rebirth of the hidden garden, Colin’s physical recovery, and the restoration of dead or dying relationships.

Mary’s growth from a sullen little girl into a cheerful and inspiring child is another major transformation that develops from the start to the end of the book.

Thus, by giving my copy of The Secret Garden a new and improved cover, it felt as if I was able to take the story into my own hands, transforming it into something of my own creation.

It was a deeply symbolic gesture, signifying my own personal transformation after reading The Secret Garden.