Rainbow Garden [Paperback]

Patricia M. St. John (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1979 | Age Level: 9 and up

Her mother has taken a job in France, and Elaine is sent to the country to live with the Owens family. Selfish, bitter, and fearful, Elaine often escapes to a secret garden where she make some exciting discoveries.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patricia St.John is a skilled storyteller and a well loved and respected author. Her books have captivated children for over fifty years. All her titles have been reprinted many times and there are currently eleven in print. Total sales of English editions of her books stand at over 600,000 copies.Patricia St John is probably the best-known children's author on the Christian market. Up to her sudden death in 1993, she was constantly active in her local Coventry community keeping 'open house' to the children in the council estate where she lived. A wonderful writer whose books are models of clear Christian teaching combined with excellent story-telling skills. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Moody Pr (J) (June 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802400280
• ISBN-13: 978-0802400284
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,783,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rainbow Garden, revised by Mary Mills, September 3, 2003

By 

Emily Mulder - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rainbow Garden (Paperback)

I dearly loved this book as a child from about the age of 9 years and up, and still enjoy going back to the original to read the descriptions and explanations. In the original book there may be a few words that are less understandable to a school-aged child who does not normally do much reading, but the descriptions are wonderful and realistic. I've found that well-written Christian books for children are rather rare, and St. John's writing is exceptionally good. I found her capable of bringing Christianity to life in a very understandable way, while weaving a beautiful story about real sorts of people/children.

I was very disappointed, though, to read the addition revised by Mary Mills in 2002, and now the only one you can buy new. The book has been very abridged. Many of the descriptions that brought the humanness and delightfulness of the characters and their experiences to life, have been cleanly ommited. Also, most lines in the entire book have been re-written to be either simpler, or just less descriptive. I do not believe children today are so incapable of reading, to require the severe revisions done to this book.

The original book was a beautiful, joyful book.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish they still wrote books like this for children!, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rainbow Garden (Paperback)

This is the story of a little girl who feels lost in the world, as her mother is too busy with her own life to care for her. Her father is dead and now her mother is taking a new job in a different country, requiring lots of travelling, without Elaine. Elaine must go live with a family of six children. Through the time she spends with them, she finds Jesus and learns to love others more than herself. An excellent protrayal of real life situations, not glossed over, but told with propiety. I read this story to my four children ages 3 to 9 and they loved it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Story, December 28, 1999

By 

Anne Cernyar "author of Summer at Steller's C... (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rainbow Garden (Paperback)

I loved RAINBOW GARDEN as a little girl. As an adult, I still re-read it every couple of years. In my opinion, this beautiful story should be considered a Christian classic. Both well-written and touching, RAINBOW GARDEN is a story about how a lonely little girl finds fulness of joy. Patricia M. St. John paints wonderful pictures of happy childhood and those little incidents that have such great meaning and excitement.