posted on 15 Mar 2016

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett designed and illustrated by Lauren Child

It must be a extraordinary honour and, at the same time, an incredible challenge to be asked to design and illustrate a new edition of a renowned classic like The Secret Garden. Just how do you go about reimagining something that has such a strong identity that has been created by the great illustrators that went before you? Is it possible to break out of the mould set for you by artists you yourself grew up admiring?

These must have been some of the issues Lauren Child faced when Puffin books commissioned her to produce a limited edition for their 70th anniversary in 2010. Her solution was startling and sensational – she started from scratch and deconstructed the whole idea of how the book should look.

What she produced was a thing of rare beauty. The body of the text isn’t illustrated but that hardly matters because what she did with the actual, physical book is remarkable. Working with a delicate and complex filigree of paper engineering and pierced templates she builds layer over layer of garden greenery that can be peeled back to reveal a cover that is genuinely three dimensional.

Woven into the thickets are flowers, insects and birds, creating a sense of the reader entering the garden, going through the bushes and trees to find the text behind. Running down the spine is a yellow silk ribbon that can be used as a bookmark and has a key to the secret garden gate hanging off the bottom.

Only 1000 of these were produced worldwide in a robust perspex slipcase that helps to protect the delicate construction of the cover. It is an incredibly collectible piece of book design that is a work of fine art in its own right.

I couldn’t find any copies of this available on the second hand market and that suggests that they’ve all gone into private collections. If you are fortunate enough to come across one anywhere I’d advise you not to hesitate but to get your wallet or purse out as quickly as you can. This is a gem of a book and one that will enrich your life.

 

Terry Potter

March 2016