The Secret Garden Book and Charm

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) grew up in England, but she began writing what was to become The Secret Garden in 1909, when she was creating a garden for a new home in Long Island, New York. Frances was a born storyteller. Even as a young child, her greatest pleasure was making up stories and acting them out, using her dolls as characters. She wrote over forty books in her lifetime. Author and illustrator Tasha Tudor was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 28, 1915. Her first book, Pumpkin Moonshine, was published in 1938. Since then she has written or illustrated almost 100 books including her most recent title Corgiville Christmas, which was published in 2003. She won numerous awards throughout her lifetime including the Catholic Library Association's Regina Medal, the Walter Cerf Award for Lifetime Achievements in the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council, and Caldecott Honors for Mother Goose in 1945 and 1 Is One in 1957. She also created Christmas cards for the Irene Dash Greeting Card Company. She died on June 18, 2008.