I finished two books today: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfeild. I was initially going to read The Secret Garden and A Little Princess today, but I remembered that The Painted Garden is about a movie adaptation of The Secret Garden and thought it would go well together.

Both books have a crabby little girl as a protagonist and I love it. The original Mary is crabby because no one loves her and she was spoilt, which makes her the perfect person to handle her equally spoilt cousin, Colin. I really do enjoy her growth over the story and how she remains herself while becoming better tempered.

Jane, the protagonist of The Painted Garden, is the untalented one in her family. Her brother Tim is gifted with the piano while her sister Rachel is a great ballerina. When her family goes to America for a holiday to help her father heal, she surprises everyone by getting picked to star in the film adaptation of The Secret Garden.

(Incidentally, I didn’t realise that this was set just after WWII until I read about the children having to be evacuated! I’m amazed that they don’t show any signs of trauma)

What I liked about Jane is that she’s super relatable to me. Her only talent is with animals and that isn’t recognised by her family. I was happy for her to get a starring role because she deserved to have this one chance to shine. Of course, she has to learn to master her temper in order to make it to the end of filming, but I was pleased for her from the very start.

You know, I’ve never actually read Ballet Shoes or other books by Streatfeild. I guess I should remedy that next month.

P.s. While I have not made anything today, I recorded a video! I wanted to challenge myself (and get used to seeing pics/recordings of my voice because it’s always good to be comfortable with yourself) and I finally did it! Expect something out this week!