I feel compelled to write this review by the astonishing number of people I have heard/seen saying that this is a boring book. I hate to say it, but society is heading in a very bad direction if older kids can't get through an approximately 400 page book. I'm not saying that it won't take some time (the first time I read The Secret Garden at age 7 it took me over a month), but children no longer have the attention span that they used to and the only way to fix that problem is to practice. The Secret Garden is all about self-discovery. Mary Lennox, a spoiled and stubborn little girl, exists inside all of us. As a reader, we are appalled at her behavior at first, but then upon self-reflection, we see that we are not so very different, and begin to improve and develop alongside Mary. Believe me, parents, by the end of the book you have a much better behaved child. A must read for everyone!