Tom's Midnight Garden - Books (Philippa Pearce, Paperback)

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Customer Reviews of Tom's Midnight Garden

Nina-Jo Rees
Canterbury England
20th July 2008

a story for all time, all ages
This is a classic story for children, set in the 50's, it is about time, memory and friendship.
Tom, lonely and isolated as he is in quarantine, finds his way back in time, at night (when the hall clock strikes 13), to a wonderful old garden and a little girl called Hattie, who, to his curiosity, is dressed in old fashioned clothes. The two lonely children become friends and 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 and engaging, as Tom slowly works out where he is and who Hattie really is.
The end of the story takes in the biblical idea of time coming to and end, or the modern notion of not existing at all and the recognition that Tom and Hattie can/could be friends across time and for always.

Reads Carnegie Medalists For Fun
Geneva, Switzerland
13th July 2008

Let your imagination soar into your own midnight garden
Tom, quarantined from his brother's measles and sent off to relatives, faces several weeks in a house converted into flats with no other kids, no playground and nothing at all for a boy of his age to do. A grandfather clock that tells the correct time but clangs different hours stands in the hallway 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 and carpeting. And, behind the back door that in the daytime gives out to an alley, is his fondest wish - a vast garden to play in and a friend with whom to explore every tree and hedge and even the meadow and 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 and 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 all good stories, the reader is not only immersed in the mystery and 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 and 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 and tea and finds a white sand beach, a hammock, a chick-lit novel and a cold, umbrella-decorated cocktail.

Kate
UK
22nd January 2008

Essential reading,
A beautiful and tradtional story of magic, freindship & growing up. Adored by my children, loved by me.
Every school shelf should be stocked with this classic and every home shelf too.
When the trend for books is to 'gross out' young readers, this story reminds us that there is and always will be space for beautifully written well told enchanting stories.

Secret Spi
Germany
13th November 2007

A timeless classic
Tom is sent away to stay with his uncle and aunt in their small flat when his brother gets the measles. He misses his brother and their garden but one magical night, the grandfather clock in the hall strikes thirteen and Tom discovers a secret garden outside. Over the next few weeks, he spends time in the garden and befriends Hatty, a lonely orphan girl. But time obeys different rules in the "midnight garden" and gradually Hatty grows up and away from Tom...
This is a breathtakingly beautiful book. Not only are the descriptions of the garden and the frozen river lovely and evocative but the book raises all sorts of interesting questions about the nature of time, about ghosts, about dreams, about growing up and about the power of the imagination. It is quite similar in theme and 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 all the same and I hope he'll read it for himself when he's older.

C. Swan

4th June 2007

Absolutely timeless!
I first read this book when I was about ten and I still absolutely love it! Despite the fact it was written nearly half a century ago it has not dated at all and however many times I re-read it I still enjoy every page of it.

An absolutely magical book about time, growing up and long hours playing in leafy gardens, not just for kids but for everyone!

Go and read it, if you haven't already. And then read it again.