Mandy: A Classic Story About an Orphan, a Secret Cottage, and Finding Home for Children (Ages 8-12)

Such a darling book!

Mandy is one of those comforting books from childhood that you want to share with your own children and their children and every child you encounter. It becomes extra-special when you realize it was written by actress/singer Julie Andrews (Sound of Music, Mary Poppins) for her own children years ago. Mandy is a 10 year old orphan who is something of a loner. She is not abused at the orphanage (what a relief after reading about so many abused orphans!) and her needs for shelter, food, clothing, and education are met but there is a deeper emotional need that is not. There is one little girl , her roommate Sue, who really craves her friendship but Mandy often goes off on her own daydreaming and pushes Sue aside which hurts the girl. There is a property on the other side of a high stone wall behind the orphanage near the orphanage's orchard. Mandy creates many fantasies in her mind about what is beyond the wall and one day, she climbs a tree and goes over the wall. There is a lovely but abandoned property here with the dearest little cottage. Mandy decides to make it her own and she cleans it and weeds outside and begins to plant a garden. She has to be tricky and "borrow" things from the orphanage to do so but she works one day a week at a local shop and is able to use her earnings to buy seeds and plants. The descriptions of the discovery, her transformation of the cottage and garden, and the peace she finds there are just lovely. It makes me want to go there myself to the English countryside and see the place. Unfortunately , gray skies cover Mandy's newfound happiness. She gets in trouble for stealing things. The Matron forbids her to leave the school property to go wherever she is going and the ignored Sue becomes sneaky and seeks to find out Mandy's secret. At the same time, the gate she had discovered that leads in the property without going over the wall is suddenly locked, she spies what she thinks is a prince riding a horse at a distance (and develops some fantasies about that) and SOMEONE is spying on her-they start leaving her notes. When deadly disaster strikes her and she falls ill at the cottage- well, you'll have to read and see. This book is so charming, sweet, comforting, and warm, I could roll it like my favorite soft blanket around me on a cold day. Don't hesitate to read this if you are an adult. You should never be too old to enjoy such a good story.

Read this book as a child and bought it again for my daughter. She loved it as much as I did. This book stands the test of time and technology. Added bonus of a great discussion with my 10 year old daughter on what we liked and enjoyed.

I loved this book because it was wholesome, age-appropriate, wonderfully illustrated, and had no agenda of any kind. Most books written for this age are very short and childish, but this book was wonderful for my daughter who can knock out hundreds of pages in two days. My daughter (10) enjoyed the happy ending, really great details, realistic and relatable characters. Mandy herself was a lovable character. She also enjoyed that the ending was not stereotypical.

An amazing book that has stuck with me since childhood. Rereading it as an adult, and it is still my favorite :)

I read this from the library, then had to have my own copy and am reading it again. I'm not a kid anymore, but this book touches the kid part of me and inspires me to get busy and put more effort into improving my own home and garden, and making them as magical a place as Mandy has. Thank you for this wonderful and timeless classic!

I read this book, written by Julie Andrews, as an adult. I found myself very interested and also thought it would be a great read-aloud, chapter book for young children.

Excellent

If you like pleasant stories that have a happy ending and fairly easy to predict, you might like this book. It is a very nice story and the narrative style is smooth and engaging. I loved the idea of a secret cottage and many of the descriptions of the place was wonderful. However, everything is too simple and good. The girl lives in an orphanage with a matron who is as good as a mother, and the place has facilities like any child would have at home. The others in the orphanage and the neighbourhood are all terribly sweet people. This whole thing rings too good to be true for me! Every character is nice (except Mandy herself, who is surprisingly selfish and immature). The last few chapters were sickeningly sweet. I don't want to give away the plot, but as you read it, you'll already guess how it's going to end! A major disappointment for me! I'd have loved one with surprises, twists and believable and more realistic characters.

It is a great read aloud! It would be challenging to most grade 3 students as a read to self. It was one of my favourite books growing up. I read it to my class every year, and have read 2 copies of Mandy to pieces. Hopefully this one will last!

Read this book as a child. Had to buy it and read again . Still an enjoyable tale. Worth a read if you haven't already I first read it when I was 10...

Wholesome and sweet. Cottage core vibes.

The girls loved it. Really well written. I wish more young fiction books were like this, intelligent and filled with wonder - rather than the modern books about nonsense