Mary Lennox arrives at Misselthwaite Manor sour, sickly and used to getting her own way, and Burnett doesn't flatter her for a page, which is what makes her slow thaw so satisfying to read together. The description of Mary as "the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen" sets a tone that's honest rather than sentimental. A chapter-book pick for a child who can hold a character over many sittings.
Chapters
A long one: read it a chapter a night.
- CHAPTER I. THERE IS NO ONE LEFT
- CHAPTER II. MISTRESS MARY QUITE CONTRARY
- CHAPTER III. ACROSS THE MOOR
- CHAPTER IV. MARTHA
- CHAPTER V THE CRY IN THE CORRIDOR
- CHAPTER VI. “THERE WAS SOMEONE CRYING—THERE WAS!”
- CHAPTER VII. THE KEY TO THE GARDEN
- CHAPTER VIII. THE ROBIN WHO SHOWED THE WAY
- CHAPTER IX. THE STRANGEST HOUSE ANYONE EVER LIVED IN
- CHAPTER X. DICKON
- CHAPTER XI. THE NEST OF THE MISSEL THRUSH
- CHAPTER XII. “MIGHT I HAVE A BIT OF EARTH?”
- CHAPTER XIII. “I AM COLIN”
- CHAPTER XIV. A YOUNG RAJAH
- CHAPTER XV. NEST BUILDING
- CHAPTER XVI. “I WON’T!” SAID MARY
- CHAPTER XVII. A TANTRUM
- CHAPTER XVIII. “THA’ MUNNOT WASTE NO TIME”
- CHAPTER XIX. “IT HAS COME!”
- CHAPTER XX. “I SHALL LIVE FOREVER—AND EVER—AND EVER!”
- CHAPTER XXI. BEN WEATHERSTAFF
- CHAPTER XXII. WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN
- CHAPTER XXIII. MAGIC
- CHAPTER XXIV. “LET THEM LAUGH”
- CHAPTER XXV. THE CURTAIN
- CHAPTER XXVI. “IT’S MOTHER!”
- CHAPTER XXVII. IN THE GARDEN
Public domain. Source text via Project Gutenberg, PG boilerplate removed. View the source edition