With Charlie and the Chocolate factory (used as Lit book in sec school) coming into theatres soon, I am reminded of my all-time favourite book when I was a child - The Secret Garden. It was a hardcover. It should still be somewhere in the house "elevated" (since it could be up in the bookshelf) to a dust collector status for almost 2 decades now, I would think so. Tsk to me.

I was transported to their world and I could vividly imagine the secret garden as Mary unlocked its gate underneath the ivy and walked into the garden. As the kids transformed an otherwise unkempt garden to a garden full of colour and vibrancy and love and laughter, the characters transformed likewise from sullen, impossible brats to children that finally knew the meaning of to love and to be loved, to care and to be cared for. It's all about friendship, the power of love and to believe in yourself. I devoured it totally. While it is quite a long read and may put children off by its sheer thickness, it's truly enchanting.. :) A classic.
There's a movie on it I've heard, but I've never watched it before.

When I was a child, I used to frequent the old red-brick Marine Parade Library every other weekend with my sisters and cousins as my aunt was a librarian there. And, we would stay till it closed. Actually ours extended beyond closing time as aunt still had to clear her tonnes of work most often than not. Yippee!
The old red-brick Marine Parade Library was indeed our weekend home. We would then end the day with banana split just opposite Parkway Parade.
Those were the days. Good ol' days to be cherished forever... :)

And I have not been reading for a long time now. Not storybooks.
Just TODAY everyday.
And Wedding Mags (used-to). Now Home Deco Mags.
Hurhur. :P