72 books like The Solitary Summer

This is a story of redemption at its sweetest. Although written in 1911, it stands the test of time for today’s girls who think all is lost and find their happy place in the natural world.

I loved nine-year-old Mary Lennox’s exotic beginnings. Born in India to an absent mother and an often ill and busy English father, Mary’s frequent illnesses, lack of attention, and permissive nannies had turned her into an unlikable human. I had a hard time imagining this girl doing anything positive.

I thought for sure she was unretrievable. But when Mary, a seeming lost cause, is sent to live with a distant uncle, she is transformed. Inspired by a secret garden and determined to bring it back to life, she ultimately finds healing and happiness. Lost causes who are saved by birds and nature are my favorites! 

As a six-year-old, I was enraptured by the 1974 BBC TV adaptation of this book, thrilled by the notion that I, too, might one day find a magical route into hidden worlds.

As my reading skills improved, I did just that, thanks to a library card and books like this one. Pearce’s tale is haunting and beautifully told, and there’s an ingenious little piece of time-travel plotting involving a pair of ice skates that blew my preteen mind.

Easily one of my top favorite books, this novel captures so much: the great character of Lovejoy, the realities of post-war London, and a plot that reflects the human search for beauty amid horror, life amid death. 

The motifs, settings, and themes have such a strong impact on me to this day after having read it for the first time so long ago. There is something neat about the older folks thinking of the neighborhood “orphans” as sparrows, frittering away at the building of something special.

There’s a serene, almost dreamlike quality to The Samurai’s Garden which drew me in right away.

On the eve of WWII, a young man recovering from tuberculosis spends the year at his family’s summer home in Japan. There are actually two gardens in the story: one is the lush green one at his home, and the other is a stone garden in the pine forests, tended by Sachi, a woman who has lived with leprosy for decades.

Though both gardens lead to transformation, Sachi’s garden in particular teaches the narrator that as long as there is beauty in the world, there is life. I loved this novel’s luminous writing and vivid sense of place. It’s a beautiful testament to human loyalty and the healing power of nature.

I worked with Sue in the 1980s and came to appreciate her dedication to organic gardening and understanding plants. We then lost touch and it was a great pleasure to come across this book 15 years ago. Although it's over 30 years old, nature does not change and she gives beautiful clear descriptions of how to go about saving seeds from all different types of vegetables. It's neither straightforward nor is it difficult, and you are in good hands with Sue who will help you to succeed in this vital task, more valuable now than ever before. We all need the seeds of health!

When I first read this board book, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Amalia Hoffman’s vibrant chalk art is amazing, but the plot is a bit odd and the puns were corny. (Sorry, one really can’t help making vegetable puns after reading this book.) But my kids were obsessed! It moved into heavy rotation at our house, and I came to love little Pete the pea who leaves his safe pea pod to travel the galaxy on his carrot spaceship. It’s full of jokes and adventures perfect for the preschool crowd. I mean, who doesn’t want carrot rocketships for a snack?

There’s one thing most gardeners agree on: you simply can’t beat the taste of a homegrown tomato. Supermarket tomatoes have been bred to withstand shipping and stacking, so they look like perfect, red globes, but unfortunately, many have lost their old-fashioned flavor along the way. Author Craig LeHoullier is a tomato connoisseur who tells you how to grow over 200 varieties, from planting to harvesting and saving their seeds for another season. The photos in this beautifully illustrated book will make your mouth water—just like the tomatoes he recommends.

We’re starting and ending with something silly but special. This book is about a food… who is picky about food!

In the Pea household, candy is yucky, and VEGETABLES are the delicious treat, which always makes my littles giggle. If you have picky eaters in your household, this book is a fun way to talk about how different people (or pea-ple!) have different tastes, but it’s important to eat a variety of foods. And it’s great to laugh while doing so!

This book is perfect for new mums, mums au fait with being a mum or even those wondering about parenting!

I laughed ridiculously hard at the frank and compelling insight into what it means to be a modern-day mother. I remember reading it when my son was a toddler and feeling comforted by Turner’s stories and anecdotes.

It’s both a comedy but offers great tips at the same time in those moments when you are crying trying to get your child to eat peas.

​When I was very small, planting peas in the garden with my grandfather, I felt like a sorcerer's apprentice being initiated into a realm of magic. Carron Brown's Secrets of the Vegetable Garden brings me back to that age of wonder by setting up mysteries to solve. Holding pages up to the sunlight reveals the answers to mysteries and riddles, and shows us what is secretly happening: potatoes growing under the earth, or seeds forming inside a fruit.