A Year in the Secret Garden by Valerie Budayr and Marilyn Scott Waters- A Review

 

About the Book

Title: A Year in the Life of the Secret Garden | Author: Valarie Budayr | Illustrator: Marilyn Scott-Waters | Publication Date: November, 2014 | Publisher: Audrey Press | Pages: 144 | Recommended Ages: 5 to 99 Book Description: Award-winning authors Valarie Budayr and Marilyn Scott-Waters have co-created A Year in the Secret Garden to introduce the beloved children’s classic, The Secret Garden to a new generation of families. This guide uses over two hundred full color illustrations and photos to bring the magical story to life, with fascinating historical information, monthly gardening activities, easy-to-make recipes, and step-by-step crafts, designed to enchant readers of all ages. Each month your family will unlock the mysteries of a Secret Garden character, as well as have fun together creating the original crafts and activities based on the book.Over 140 pages, with 200 original color illustrations and 48 activities for your family and friends to enjoy, learn, discover and play with together. A Year In the Secret Garden is our opportunity to introduce new generations of families to the magic of this classic tale in a modern and innovative way that creates special learning and play times outside in nature. This book encourages families to step away from technology and into the kitchen, garden, reading nook and craft room.

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My Review

I imagine that if the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett continued, following Mary, Colin, and Dickon as they grew, the children would have compiled all of the amazing activities, crafts, and recipes that Valarie Budayr wrote down in pen and Marilyn Scott-Waters brought to life in the book A Year In the Secret Garden. We have been in love with this book ever since receiving it to review. Divided into sections by the months of the year, the book brings the magic of The Secret Garden to readers by getting them into the garden, cooking authentic foods, and jumping rope.

About a year ago, I read The Secret Garden to my oldest for the first time. She feel in love with the magic of the book and became obsessed with watching the movie. She would wistfully tell me how she hoped to find a key to a secret garden as we walked through the paths behind our house. I remember feeling that way when I was little, and it has enchanted me to see the book have the same effect on her.  The Secret Garden is timeless and effortlessly captivates a child's imagination. I always get sad when I finish rereading The Secret Garden because I want the story to continue, and my daughter has expressed the same sentiment. You can only imagine my delight when I opened A Year In the Secret Garden and realized how breathtakingly beautiful the book is and how it brings a new life to The Secret Garden.

The book offers in depth character reviews, arts and craft activities, deliriously delicious looking recipes, and gardening tips that can make anyone pine for a green thumb. Recently, my daughter made a terrarium and made a point to tell me she would keep the plants alive, unlike our garden. I had sadly let the garden go to the wayside this past summer and fall. However, while reading A Year In the Secret Garden, in the month of October, the author has in depth instructions on how to plant bulbs to end up with an enchanting spring full of flowers.
 

I never think to plant bulbs by the fall because it is easy, living in the South, to let the plants from the summer linger on and on if the fall is mild, missing the opportunity to plant bulbs. This book has inspired me to plant some bulbs, and now I am giddy with excitement for the spring surprises to come.

We also enjoyed playing with the Secret Garden Cutouts that were featured in the section for the Month of October and provided in the back of the book. Nothing makes my kids happier than scissors, tape, and cut up paper everywhere. While the children enjoyed the activities associated with this book, I was entranced by the beautiful water color illustrations and the scrumptious looking images of foods to make.  I am certain that any person who grew up hoping to find that secret key to let them into an enchanting garden will fall in love with the magic inside this book to share with their children.

About the Author: Valarie Budayr

Valarie Budayr loves reading and bringing books alive. Her popular website, www.jumpintoabook.com, inspires children and adults alike to experience their books through play, discovery, and adventure. She is founder of Audrey Press, an independent publishing house, as well as an Amazon and iTunes best-selling author. She has written The Fox Diaries: The Year the Foxes Came to our Garden and The Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Valarie is passionate about making kid’s books come alive and encouraging families and schools to pull books off the shelves and stories off the pages.  

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About the Illustrator: Marilyn Scott-Waters

Marilyn Scott-Waters loves making things out of paper. Her popular website, www.thetoymaker.com, receives 2,000 to 7,000 visitors each day, who have downloaded more than six million of her easy-to-make paper toys. Her goal is to help parents and children spend time together making things. She is the creator of a paper toy craft book series The Toymaker’s Christmas: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself (Sterling), and The Toymaker’s Workshop: Paper Toys You Can Make Yourself (Sterling). She is also the co-creator with J. H. Everett of the middle grade nonfiction series, Haunted Histories, (Christy Ottaviano Books / Henry Holt Books for Young Readers). Ms. Scott-Waters illustrated The Search For Vile Things (Scholastic), and created paper engineering for Pop & Sniff Fruit (Piggy Toes Press).

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A Year in the Secret Garden Blog Tour Schedule (2014)

EXPLORING SEPTEMBER

November 1

Mother Daughter Book Reviews (Launch)

Coffee Books & Art (Guest Post)

WS Momma Readers Nook (Book Review)

November 2

Cherry Mischievous (Excerpt)

Hope to Read (Excerpt)

November 3

Eloquent Articulation (Book Review)

Enter Here Canada (Excerpt)

EXPLORING OCTOBER

November 4

BeachBoundBooks (Excerpt)

Books, Babies and Bows (Book Review)

November 5

Monique's Musings (Book Review)

November 6

SOS-Supply (Book Review)

EXPLORING NOVEMBER

November 7

Randomly Reading (Book Review)

November 8

Adalinc to Life (Book Review)

EXPLORING DECEMBER

November 9

100 Pages a Day (Book Review)

November 10

Edventures With Kids (Book Review)

EXPLORING JANUARY

November 11

Icefairy's Treasure Chest (Book Review)

November 12

Girl of 1000 Wonders (Book Review)

EXPLORING FEBRUARY

November 13

Seraphina Reads (Guest Post)

November 14

Juggling Act Mama (Book Review)

EXPLORING MARCH

November 15

Pragmatic Mom (Author/Illustrator Interview)

Purple Monster Coupons (Excerpt)

November 16

Stacking Books (Book Review)

EXPLORING APRIL

November 17

Oh My Bookness (Book Review)

November 18

Crystal's Tiny Treasures (Book Review)

EXPLORING MAY

November 19

The Blended Blog (Book Review)

November 20

All Done Monkey (Book Review)

November 21

Geo Librarian (Book Review)

Grandbooking (Author/Illustrator Interview)

EXPLORING JUNE

November 22

My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews (Book Review)

November 23

Christy's Cozy Corners (Book Review)

My Life, Loves and Passions (Book Review)

November 24

Bookaholic Chick (Excerpt)

Hide-N-(Sensory)-Seeking (Book Review)

EXPLORING JULY

November 25

Ninja Librarian (Guest Post)

November 26

Jane Ritz (Book Review)

Rockin' Book Reviews (Book Review)

November 27

I'd Rather Be Reading At The Beach (Book Review)

EXPLORING AUGUST

November 28

Deal Sharing Aunt (Book Review)

November 29

Mommynificent (Book Review)

November 30

This Kid Reviews Books (Book Review)

Java John Z's (Author/Illustrator Interview)

 

* $100 Blog Tour Giveaway *

Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card or PayPal cash (winner’s choice) Contest ends: December 7, 11:59 pm, 2014 Open: Internationally How to enter: Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget below. Terms and Conditions: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. A winner will be randomly drawn through the Rafflecopter widget and will be contacted by email within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. The winner will then have 72 hours to respond. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, a new draw will take place for a new winner. Odds of winning will vary depending on the number of eligible entries received. This contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. This giveaway is sponsored by the authors Valarie Budayr and Marilyn Scott-Waters and is hosted and managed by Renee from Mother Daughter Book Reviews. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send and email to Renee(at)MotherDaughterBookReviews(dot)com. a Rafflecopter giveaway