This is one of those books that you need to read as a child to experience what the author intends.

I am sure I'd have loved it if I'd read it at 10. A family in need of money given the chance to travel to Los Angeles, away from rationing and towards adventures in dancing, radio and Hollywood. It's wish-fulfilment at its peak.

Eldest child Rachel wants to be a dancer, and meets Posy Fossil from previous book Ballet Shoes (to the delight of readers I would guess). Youngest Tim is talented on the piano and finds his own niche in their new home. It is middle child Jane, envious of her siblings' abilities and opportunities who is given the biggest chance of all...

The story goes in the way you'd expect it, with just a few curveballs (the reason for Mr Winter's inability to work seems quite shocking, the relationship between Jane and Maurice not ending as you'd think). It's quite formulaic, plot wise, but enjoyable for a reader, as you yearn for certain things to happen, and lo and behold...

As an adult, The Painted Garden is sweet, cloyingly so at times, the children actually pretty annoying. As a parent I'd be talking to my child if they spoke in the way the girls sometimes do. The entitlement they seem to feel that they deserve certain things really don't sit well with me.

The awful stereotyping of Italian and 'coloured' accents also was though I suppose of its time, something I'd alter if I read it to my child. And I would also have to discuss the probably-inappropriate present of a cigarette case to an eight-year-old too! I know it would have not been unusual then.

Overall, a great children's classic read and a trip down Of-Its-Time Lane for an adult reader.

The depictions & descriptions & dialogue of the two persons of colour in the book are very 1949 (them being minor characters of a rich woman's housekeeper and a train porter). If you can forgive it being of its time in that area, its good to find out what happened to the characters from Ballet Shoes. I read a 1963 copy, so the language may have been updated in the more recent publications.

The book was good fun, but the appearance of Posy and Pauline was a joy!

1969 print

Classically Noel Streatfeild - a short, fun read about kids discovering their own talents. Fun cameos from the Fossils in this one make it a nice almost-sequel to Ballet Shoes.

This one is somewhat odd, with a rather unlikable child (Jane) who is described as "black doggish" countless times. A strange family dynamic, with mother's friend living with the family. Describes the making of the film "The Secret Garden." A little different, but enjoyable.

I read Streatfeild for her marvellously eccentric style and her authentic-feeling child's-eye view and sometimes, like this one, because her books are total time capsules. (The bit where the children get told they're now foreigners is priceless. Also the bits where they experience ice cream sodas and strawberry milk for the first time. The world has moved ON.)

Um, avoid if you dislike one-dimensional portraits of non-white or non-English speaking people - that is, I do dislike but I can skate over in things first published in 1949.

Also [whispers] I'm fairly sure Peaseblossom is butch.

A typical Streatfeild family feature in this book: a gifted ballet dancer, a talented musician, and an irritable un-artistic middle child. The family have the chance to spend the winter with a relative in California, and the middle child gets a chance to shine. Family dynamics push this book forward; a lovely gentle read with humour and moving moments.

Most of the story takes place in California, with some mildly amusing scenes as they try to adjust to American culture and language, and discover that children are expected to earn pocket money rather than being given it by parents.

One of the things I particularly like about this book is a side story about two of the sisters from Streatfield’s classic ‘Ballet Shoes’. I also enjoyed the children’s gradual changes in outlook and motivation, and the way they come to love their new environment and the people around them. There are caricatures amongst the minor characters, but I don’t see that as a problem.

I very much enjoyed re-reading this, and would recommend it to anyone who likes children’s fiction of this kind.

Four and a half stars, really.

Longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

I wanted to love this one more than I did, since it is partly about the making of a movie version of The Secret garden. However, it is a victim of Streatfeild's writing - the principle child in the story is such a wretched little brat (and there doesn't seem to be an epiphany parallel to Mary's) that it makes this one less fun to reread than some of her others. That being said, I was still glad I read it.

I actually read my mother's original copy of The Painted Garden, published in England in 1949, and I read it to my 11 yr old daughter. We both enjoyed it very much. The edition we read does contain stereotyped dialog for different characters, which some modern readers may object to. But I thought it did a good job of describing how this post-war English family reacted to the abundance and affluence of southern California. I also appreciate how many of the characters are less than perfect. Streatfeild shows kids being kids, having meltdowns and jealousies, and coping with feeling left out. None of these emotions are romanticized but neither are they vilified. She shows normal people coping with normal emotions. I think my daughter related and hopefully learned something. I enjoyed passing this book on to the next generation.

It was mostly slow and forced, but it also had its interesting parts.

About how an untalented middle child with talented siblings gets to unexpectedly star in a movie,but despite having jealousy about never being the important one in the family,she doesn't really enjoy acting.