The Borrowers

The Borrowers
The Borrowers live in the secret places of quiet old houses; behind the mantelpiece, inside the harpsichord, under the kitchen clock. They own nothing, borrow everything, and think that human beings were invented just to do the dirty work. Arrietty's father, Pod, was an expert Borrower. He could scale curtains using a hatpin, and bring back a doll's teacup without breaking it. Girls weren't supposed to go borrowing but as Arrietty was an only child her father broke the rule, and then something happened which changed their lives. She made friends with the human boy living in the house...
Customer Review: A Timelessly Appealing Fantasy
When I was 12 years old I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the Borrowers, by Mary Norton. That story, and its sequels, quickly became one of my favorites, and I still treasure the old paperbacks that I collected nearly forty years ago. Borrowers are a race of tiny people who live under the floorboards and behind the walls of old houses deep in the English countryside. They borrow bits of food and other things from the "human beans" who live in the house, and try to make their homes as comfortable as possible without being discovered. In The Borrowers, Mary Norton introduces us to the Clock family, Pod, Homily, and their daughter Arrietty. Arrietty is thirteen and bursting to find out what life is like beyond the walls of her tiny home. Eventually this curiosity leads to new knowledge and understanding for both the borrowers and one of the human beans, and also to the borrowers being forced to flee for their lives. In other words, Arrietty begins to grow up, and as she does her life and those of everyone around her change irrevocably. Mary Norton wrote The Borrowers in the early 1950s. She was a superb writer who was able to describe the lives of the borrowers and the human beans so convincingly that the reader accepts the entire fantasy as possible or even probable. How else to explain the mysterious disappearances of buttons, safety pins, spools of thread, and sundry other mysteries we all encounter every day?
Customer Review: Suspenseful, wonderful, but difficult for littler ones
The Borrowers is a Truly Terrific Story, well-plotted, gripping, and fun. A family of little people live on the "lost" items of the family in the big house. They are discovered by a boy, assisted, and finally evacuated, with the suggestion of a happy ending. Remarkable story. This is a great read-aloud for all ages, but be aware that your kids are going to be unfamiliar with a LOT of the materials the Borrowers are borrowing. Blotting Paper. Hat pins. Tureens. Cider-press cogwheels. Kid gloves. Scullery items. Tom Thumb miniature Victorian volumes. Settles. Linen-Presses. Crumpets. Parquet flooring. All these unfamiliar terms can paint a wonderful word picture, but they can also lead to a lot of interruptions in the story. I would recommend reading Frances Hodgson Burnett's Secret Garden and Little Princess before you read these books aloud -- they can help your kids imagine the world in this story a little better. A word of caution -- The adult human beings drink Madeira (from decanters or from bottles) and then imagine that their glimpses of the borrowers are alcohol-induced hallucinations. This isn't very family-friendly, nor even particularly funny, but it does form a basis of the plot and so you can't skip these references. It is not as in-your-face as the movie Annie, for example, but it's certainly there. If your parenting style is particular about alcohol consumption, you may want to pre-read the story to see if this meets your standards.