#127 in Children’s books
Tom's Midnight Garden
- 229
- Pages
- about 4 h
- Reading time
- Carnegie Medal
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Our view
“Tom’s Midnight Garden” is a gentle, quietly profound children’s fantasy about a friendship that reaches across time. Lodged with his aunt and uncle, twelve-year-old Tom slips out at midnight into a Victorian garden and makes friends with a girl named Hatty. Some readers find more depth in it than a children’s book usually promises; others who dislike ghost stories are charmed anyway. Adults can return to it as readily as children.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Tom's Midnight Garden is a children's fantasy novel by English author Philippa Pearce. It was first published in 1958 by Oxford University Press with illustrations by Susan Einzig. The story is about a twelve-year-old boy, Tom, who, while staying with his aunt and uncle, slips out at midnight and discovers a magical, mysterious Victorian garden where he befriends a young girl named Hatty. The novel has been reissued in print many times and also adapted for radio, television, cinema, and the stage.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.5 across 50 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 25% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Children’s books average of 7.9. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.5 | 11 | 22% |
| Hardcover | 7.2 | 39 | 78% |
Frequently asked
What age is Tom's Midnight Garden for?
Tom's Midnight Garden sits on the Children shelf in the sources we use, which by convention means roughly ages 5–10. This is a guide from the book’s category, not a publisher’s age rating. It has 229 pages — shorter than 98% of the ranked books in Children’s books.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Children’s books — with scores between 7.6 and 8.1, closest to this book.
