This paper is a comparative study on four different graded readers of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden (1909) with the main purpose of clarifying how adaptations are made from the original. Closely compared with Burnett’s writing, the four versions (Compass Classic Readers, Penguin Active Reading, Oxford Bookworms, and Macmillan Readers) will show their own characteristics. As the easiest of all, Compass version is naturally the shortest digest, omitting even some of the most impressive scenes such as Colin defying Ben and standing up from his wheelchair, and Mr. Craven’s supernatural dream of his deceased wife calling him home as if to make possible his touching reconciliation with his son Colin, who, with the help of "Magic" as well as with his great efforts, has gained the ability to walk. Although Oxford’s stage 3 version is longer and truer to the original than Compass, it also has a few bad points. Because of the publisher’s strict rules of restricting vocabulary, the Oxford book includes absurd-looking changes like "plant," instead of ivy, covering the door to the secret garden, and Colin’s first words to Mary in their midnight encounter, "Are you a dream?" replacing the frightful expression "Are you a ghost?" On the whole, Macmillan’s pre-intermediate level of The Secret Garden appears to be the best adapted book just because it is truest to Burnett’s classic.
What is interesting is, this study has discovered an unexpected merit of graded readers: A retold version may have the possibility of moving the people who read it more than the very original. Penguin version is a good example. In this elementary level 2 book, Anne Colins has managed to modernize the 1909 novel, focusing on the wealthy mother’s total indifference to Mary. Such neglect happens to be one of today’s social problems quite common in developed countries, and undoubtedly tends to draw modern readers’ attention. Furthermore, Ms. Colins intentionally weakens the outdated class element like the 10- year-old aristocrat Colin ordering arrogantly the elderly servant Ben Weatherstaff, which is loyally retained in Macmillan’s counterpart. Penguin version avoids the name of "Master Colin," using untitled "Colin Craven." In conclusion, it can be said that the most preferred graded readers are not necessarily the ones which are always loyal to the masterpiece.