A lost dog, a hidden time tunnel and a secret lake. A page-turning time travel adventure for children aged 8-11. Enjoyed by over half a million young readers and in translation around the world! (Books 2 and 3 now available!)
When Stella and her younger brother, Tom, move to their new London home, they become mystified by the disappearances of Harry, their elderly neighbour’s small dog. Where does he go? And why does he keep reappearing wet-through?
Their quest to solve the riddle over the summer holidays leads to a boat buried under a grassy mound, and a tunnel that takes them to a secret lake.
Who is the boy rowing towards them who looks so terrified? And whose are those children’s voices carried on the wind from beyond the woods?
Stella and Tom soon discover that they have travelled back in time to their home and its gardens almost 100 years earlier. Here they make both friends and enemies, and uncover startling connections between the past and present.
A modern children’s classic
The Secret Lake has been described by readers as a modern Tom’s Midnight Garden and compared in atmosphere with The Secret Garden and the Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew mystery adventure stories. Its page-turning plot, with its many twists and turns, makes it a firm favourite with both boys and girls.
Karen Inglis describes it as, a time travel mystery adventure with modern twists – the kind of story that I loved to read as a child, but brought right up to date.
The adventure starts here! Order today with one click, in print or for kindle
Publisher : Well Said Press
Publication date : August 4, 2011
Language : English
Print length : 122 pages
ISBN-10 : 0956932304
ISBN-13 : 978-0956932303
Item Weight : 4.7 ounces
Reading age : 8 – 11 years, from customers
Dimensions : 5.25 x 0.31 x 8 inches
Book 1 of 3 : Secret Lake Mystery Adventures
Grade level : Preschool – 1
Best Sellers Rank: #1,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #5 in Children’s Siblings Books (Books) #11 in Children’s Mystery, Detective, & Spy #67 in Children’s Action & Adventure Books (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (19,565) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Dezerae Hayes –
Book Review – The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis – Reviewed by Harmony Yellowjohn
Imagine, being with your younger sibling just playing in the forest and finding a secret lake, going through a tunnel to climb a ladder leading you to travel back in time. Well, that’s exactly what happens in “The Secret Lake” By Karen Inglis. A common theme throughout the whole book is to never talk to strangers. This is shown when they find this old lady and talk to her then the old lady attempts to poison them. This also occurs when they find a guy who turned out to be extremely rude to them.This book is about how siblings explore around their garden and then find a lake in the forest, they find a time traveling tunnel and they go inside it and are taken back 100 years in the past. Tom and Stella found the secret lake; they thought it was beautiful because it was surrounded by crimson pink flowering bushes, stretching away in front of them.This book would appeal to people who enjoy the Sci-Fi genre, as it shows time travel, super power, myths, and a theme of multiple lives. Some good parts of the book are when they find the lake and when they meet a nice guy and he talks weirdly. Some areas where the book could improve on is adding more background knowledge on the kids at some point. I appreciated how the author made it realistic like the details when the people spoke. It was a good read because it had good writing and also good personalities for the characters that made it more interesting.My overall opinion is that this was a very good book. I recommend this book as it piques your interest while reading about the journey of Tom and Stella.It’s always fun to read books about adventures and time travel. Learning about history can be fun and in this book it places you into a different time and provides a different perspective. Afterall, if you don’t learn something new every day, its a wasted day.
Daniela McLea –
A Captivating Mystery for Young Readers!
The Secret Lake is a wonderful children’s adventure story filled with mystery, friendship, and just the right touch of magic. Karen Inglis weaves a tale that is both exciting and heartwarming as siblings Stella and Tom discover a secret lake behind their new home—one that transports them back in time.The time-travel twist is imaginative and keeps kids turning the pages, while the characters feel real and relatable. My child loved following Stella and Tom’s adventures, and the gentle suspense made it hard to put the book down. It’s engaging without being too scary, which makes it perfect for middle-grade readers.This book is a fantastic choice for kids who enjoy mysteries, adventures, or stories with a little history woven in. A modern classic that children will want to reread again and again. Highly recommend!
Kindle Customer –
A wonderful adventure
So fun to read. My granddaughter, who is 8, loved reading. I read it first, then we were able to talk about it when she was reading it. We both loved the adventure that Tom and Stella had. Great fun to read
Jennifer Brown –
As described
In not sure this was a gift
Amazon Customer –
Mother-Daughter Book Club
We have a mother-daughter book club for 9-11 year old girls and our group read this book this month. The girls really loved the book, but what made this the best book club event was that we booked a zoom meeting with Karen through her website. She met with us and our girls for an hour and shared a bunch of slides all about how she got inspired to write her stories, what it’s like to be an author, and the amazing story behind her self-publishing of the Secret Lake. Her story is incredible! And she was so kind and sweet to our girls and answered all their questions they had for her. Highly recommend booking a call with her if you’re looking for an inspiring behind-the-scenes experience to excite your kids about reading and writing!
Martha –
Delightful!
This is a delightful story that kept my interest.
Bunny –
Children loved it!
A quick read and my ten year olds give it five stars. Interesting characters and a good start to the series.
NewCustomer –
Keep your kids engaged
Very suitable for a mix of children ages six to ten
Amazon カスタマー –
My 8 year old daughter enjoyed it. She read it just a few weeks after we watched Back to the future series on Prime Video, so when she told me what the story was, she started with “it was just like Back to the future”.
José snoopy –
Todo genial, buena letra
Brenda T –
I’m reading the book and I find it quite fun. Once I am finished I will encourage my granddaughter to read it. The print is on the small size and if it were a bit larger it would be much better for children to read. With some children, having to read a whole page in shorter time gives satisfaction in reading.
Alice –
Preso per esercitarmi per il mio inglese, è un libro per bambini quindi usano termini facili e anche se non si sanno tutte le parole si riesce a comprendere la storia perfettamente.
Amazon Customer –
Enjoyed this childrens’ story about two children and a dog a lot, reminded me of Tom’s midnight garden and Hattie.