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The Borrowers (The Borrowers #1)

by Mary Norton, Beth Krush (Illustrations), Joe Krush (Illustrations)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 36,914 ratings · 692 reviews

This is the classic story--read and loved by children all over the world--of Pod, Homily, and their daughter, Arrietty, who live under the kitchen floor in a quiet, half-empty house and get their livelihood by borrowing from the “human beans.” “Delectable fantasy.”--Booklist

Paperback, 180 pages

Published October 8th 1953 by A Voyager Book: Harcourt Brace & World, Inc. (first published 1952)

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Mar 19, 2009 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, read_as_a_child, classics

More than just loving the story in this book I liked the idea of it. You had people that were smaller than a child being intelligent and resourceful and they were taken seriously. What child wouldn't love that? Plus little people who make furniture out of buttons and thimbles - it's just too cute.

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Jan 31, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: little people lovers, children, kleptomaniacs

Recommended to Emily by: A random.

Shelves: childrens, classics, i-wouldn-t-mind-that-life, interiors

I like little people who steal. I'm not discussing vertically challenged folks here--(too political); I'm talking about fairy-sized kleptos who live under the floorboards and steal your whiskey and put it in thimbles to get drunk and see things that aren't there. Aunt Martha?? Is that you?? Ah...the stuff of legend. And dreams. Sigh.
My adoring worship of little people began with the movie "Willow", in which the little people aka "brownies" fall into a tub of beer while spying on Val Kilmer---(it...more I like little people who steal. I'm not discussing vertically challenged folks here--(too political); I'm talking about fairy-sized kleptos who live under the floorboards and steal your whiskey and put it in thimbles to get drunk and see things that aren't there. Aunt Martha?? Is that you?? Ah...the stuff of legend. And dreams. Sigh.
My adoring worship of little people began with the movie "Willow", in which the little people aka "brownies" fall into a tub of beer while spying on Val Kilmer---(it's so fucking hilarious), and then the little people swim around saying "Beer!" which doesn't sound funny, but is actually one of the better parts of the movie and it totally made me want to hang out in barns and roll around in tubs of beer when I was ten. And they wear these little mouse-head caps which makes them all the more rugged and adorable. Ah, little people. Ding Dong the WITCH IS DEAD. Oops, wait...too political.
Of course I couldn't help but to take this book to bed with me and LOVE IT because it chronicles the wanderings and "borrowings" of little people. The reality is they're total kleptos, but because it was written fifty years ago or more, we'll just call them "borrowers" and throw in a giggle and a couple of hair curlers. The greatest passages of this book discuss what they "borrow"; the bits and bobs like candle wax and blotting paper that they use to make night lights and get this....rugs!! And truly, they run into some scary shit when they are "spotted" by HUMANS and must decide whether to leave their delightful little hovel or move on to the....dreaded forest. Where little people can get trodden by horses or eaten by ferrets. Contrary to popular belief, little people can and DO DIE! Hard to believe, isn't it:

This is a classic. I'd never picked it up before for some reason; probably just to be contrary or something. As a child I would have adored the descriptions of a mini-life, complete with mini-stuff and mini-houses and mini-books and mini-halfling human friends. I will recommend it to those children who ask me what to read next. And then I will hide the cover with my hands and the copyright date so they don't get an idea of how old it is and barf in my face.
One thing is--it would benefit from an updated cover for the new generation. Especially if the publishers are still tring to market this to our 8-12 group (tweeny-tween-tween), which now knows more about getting to internet porn THROUGH filters than most cross-country truck drivers. And CNN reporters. I'm talking to you, Brian Williams!

It is grand while its contents are tiny. Highly recommended for your children or people obsessed with doll house furniture......

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Feb 03, 2012 Kathryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-novels, classics

4.5 STARS

I feel quite certain my mom read this to me when I was little, and that it made a big impression on me. I even remember naming one of my Barbies Egglatina! The story has has many wonderful aspects that many children will enjoy, such as the Borrowers being little people that live, hidden away, in our homes and "borrow" (steal? that is open to interpretation) things from us. If you miss a pencil, or postage stamp, and you feel quite sure you really *did* leave it *right there*--well, perh...more 4.5 STARS

I feel quite certain my mom read this to me when I was little, and that it made a big impression on me. I even remember naming one of my Barbies Egglatina! The story has has many wonderful aspects that many children will enjoy, such as the Borrowers being little people that live, hidden away, in our homes and "borrow" (steal? that is open to interpretation) things from us. If you miss a pencil, or postage stamp, and you feel quite sure you really *did* leave it *right there*--well, perhaps a Borrower has been visiting? (I sure like that idea better than just being plain forgetful, haha!) There is adventure and daring, and so many darling descriptions of the the wee objects the Borrowers use to make their home (I was obsessed with all such things when I was little--doll houses, fairy houses--and since I didn't have a "real" doll house, much like the Borrowers, I used what I could to make doll furniture and things)

This is the version I read:

I love that cover because it really highlights all the lovely things the Borrowers have and seems so illustrative of their life, what they do, very close to how it's written in the book. (And Arrietty is writing in her journal--it's perfect!)

However, reading it as an adult, I feel like I got even more from the story. I was really impressed with the writing style and the wit, the insights into character foibles... Some of the passages are just so beautifully written (the garden, sigh!) and I thought Arrietty's dreams and determination to make that happen (without being completely unfair to her parents) was very poignant. As was what happened to the Boy. (Actually, there was a lot more peril in the story than I expected, some unsettling aspects, that some children may not like. I obviously elected to give Egglatina a happy fate through my own imaginative play!)

I am not so sure how much I loved the beginning and ending, with young Kate talking to the Boy's sister (now an old lady) who is telling the story of the time her brother met the Borrowers. It lends a hint of melancholy to the story, knowing the fate the boy met. And I was so wrapped up in the story of the boy and the Borrowers that when it ended (and we switch back to the old woman telling Kate that was "the last time my brother saw the Borrowers") it was so jarring. I can't quite decide if this was brilliance or a shortcoming on Norton's part. I think I was satisfied with how it all ended, and really liked one aspect, but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about all of it. I won't say more because it will be a spoiler. But, if you have read the story you and if have thoughts about the very end (something to do with PENMANSHIP), please drop a line in the comments! ;-)

All in all, I really did love this book and I am so excited to see the Studio Ghibli film soon. I didn't realize that there is a whole series about the Borrowers, so I may have to read more and wonder if the film will incorporate more or just this first book? I look forward to finding out.

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Sep 30, 2011 Nishita Patel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As I love my classics, and I remember giving this book a read a few years ago, I thought it'd be quite repetitive and i'd know what would happen very well. But unfortunately, I missed out a few key points. And after reading the book again, I absolutely enjoyed reading the book. The idea of the 'little people' and how they 'borrow' just makes the book more exciting, and allows the reader to dissolve in the fantasy. The way the story unfolds of how the fear of the 'big people' and how they manage...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Joel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, grade-school-books, 30-day-book-challenge

Day 17 of my Facebook 30 Day Book Challenge asks me to list the shortest book I've read, so here it is. I almost went with the Hobbit, but then I remembered The Borrowers. This is a book about a family of tiny people who live under the floorboards of a normal human home, surviving by pilfering stuff from the giants who inhabit it. I'd guess they are a few inches tall, so that's pretty short.

Certainly they weren't looking for the shortest book I have read in terms of number of pages, right? Becau...more

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Jun 17, 2008 Theresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I regarded The Borrowers with merciless scorn when I was actually at the age where reading The Borrowers was appropriate--I found it boring. However, I have since come to love the adventures of Homily, Pod, Arriety, Spiller, and the Hendrearies. There are several Borrower books I believe--The Borrowers, The Borrowers Afield, The Borrowers Afloat, the Borrowers Aloft, and the Borrowers Avenged. The stories are as whimsical as can be, but Norton writes with Victorian edge and can make the mood dar...more

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Sep 17, 2011 Sajeda Assenjee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I remember reading this when I was younger and having read this again it does not disappoint.It is a must read.The Borrowers is the story about the Clock family-Pod,Homily and their daughter Arriety who live under the grandfather clock.They live by "borrowing" from "human beans" upstairs and their greatest fear is being discovered or eaten by the cat!
Pod goes borrowing -match boxes for chest of drawers,a sardine-can for a bed and crumbs for foods.His daughter is tired of living underground and w...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Lana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Have you ever thought you were going crazy because you know you put something somewhere, but it isn't there? You are not crazy; there is an explanation. The Borrowers takes place in a big, old house, both in and under it. Arrietty Clock is three inches tall. She is an extremely adventurous person and loves taking risks. She is extremely intelligent and loves reading and writing in her journal. Arrietty also loves her family. Her father, Pod, is a borrower. He takes things that humans won't miss...more Have you ever thought you were going crazy because you know you put something somewhere, but it isn't there? You are not crazy; there is an explanation. The Borrowers takes place in a big, old house, both in and under it. Arrietty Clock is three inches tall. She is an extremely adventurous person and loves taking risks. She is extremely intelligent and loves reading and writing in her journal. Arrietty also loves her family. Her father, Pod, is a borrower. He takes things that humans won't miss and uses them for more important reasons. Arrietty's mother, Homily, is a worried person. The always needs to know what Arrietty is doing, and is constantly anxious when Pod goes borrowing. Arrietty is taken borrowing with her father and she meets a boy whom she befriends. The boy helps Arrietty realize that humans are not made for borrowers, and that humans are the superior species. He tells her he doesn't think there are many borrowers left in the world, and Arrietty want to find out if her aunt and uncle are still alive. She writes them a letter that the boy delivers. In return, Arrietty reads to the boy, because he can't read well. Knowing if her family is alive is not the only problem. One of the women, Mrs. Driver, living in the house that Arrietty's family lives under, is out to get them. She wants them destroyed and out of the house. Can Arrietty's family survive Mrs. Driver's search to get them? Will Arrietty's aunt and uncle still be alive? Will Arrietty ever see the boy again? I give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐, because it was easy to follow and had an incredible story line, but the ending was open ended. The author used many important motifs and symbols, and made the reader able to find the themes, but did not make them too obvious. This book is a classic because many books have the same, predictable story line and conflict, but The Borrowers was a very unique story that no one had thought of before. Some books are only for girls, or boys, or people who like action, or people who like memoirs. The Borrowers is for everyone.

Norton, Mary. The Borrowers. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., 1953(less)

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Nov 24, 2012 Blair rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Genre: Fantasy

Summary: Tiny people, borrowers, live in the walls and under the floorboards of an English mansion. When one of the family members is seen by humans, the family embarks an ongoing quest for safety that results in confusion about the world she lives in for the family's teenage daughter.

Critique: A. Setting
B. This fantasy story describes how tiny people live in a house and borrow their household goods to create a home of their own. The vivid descriptions of how common household item...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Jayaprakash Satyamurthy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've had this book on my shelves for a few years, but I only got around to reading it after watching Studio Ghibli's gorgeous adaptation, 'The Secret World Of Arietty'. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was a tougher, more tender novel than its premise - little people who live underfoot and steal everything they need from human beings - necessarily suggested.

This is a meticulous, honest book that doesn't condescend to its intended audience. The characters are all flawed, believable,...more

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Mar 05, 2012 Tara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eced-221

The Borrowers written by Mary Norton is one of my all time favorite books. It is about a "little" family named the Clocks who are mini people that live underneath the floor of an old home occupied by a normal sized family. The Clocks "borrow" things from the family that they would never notice are gone. For example buttons and thimbles and little things like that that seem so small and useless come in handy for the clock family. Arrietty Clock is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clock and she wants...more The Borrowers written by Mary Norton is one of my all time favorite books. It is about a "little" family named the Clocks who are mini people that live underneath the floor of an old home occupied by a normal sized family. The Clocks "borrow" things from the family that they would never notice are gone. For example buttons and thimbles and little things like that that seem so small and useless come in handy for the clock family. Arrietty Clock is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clock and she wants to go out borrowing for the first time. When she gets the chance to do this she meets the son of the family that owns the home and they become very curious about each otehr and the lives the live. The boy is always finding things to give to the clock family but when he ends up taking too much stuff his parents notice and they find out about the little family underneath the floor and the Clocks are forced to leave.
The author made it very clear how the charcters felt about their world and their dilemmas they were faced with. The Clock family was faced with a lot of dilemmas and so was the son of the family that owned the home. The Clocks needed to borrow things so they could make their own home underneath the florr of this house and the only way to find things was to borrow fromt he family that owned the home. When the little boy tried helping the Clock family he got in trouble by his parents so the author definetly shows how the characters feel about the world and their dilemmas they are faced with throughout the book. There are many places in the book where the it goes from reality to imagination and back and forth. For example, a family being that small and living under someone else's home is to real but the fact that they have to borrow things to make their home life better is deicting a real life situation becaue there are homeless people that don't have money for anything that have to borrow or "steal" from other people to make their lives better. As wrong as this is it becomes a matter of life and death in real life for the homeless people so they are left with no choice but to borrow or steal. The author allows a little bit of room for delight in the book between all the suspense and "uh oh" moments. I think some delight is shown through how the little boy tries helping the Clocks out by sneaking them items from his own home. I think it shows how caring he is even though he has no idea about them.
I thought this book would be a good book to read out loud to a group of students in a classroom. I just got that feeling when I was reading this book. I really liked the imagination the author used in the book for the plot. I would recommend this book to teachers who are looking for a good book to read to their students out loud. I loved this book. I also think there is a movie about the book so I would encourage to read the book first and then watch the movie and point out the differences.(less)

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Feb 24, 2012 Lauren Gibson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eced-221

I read the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton
SUMMARY: There is an old house in the country where 2 families live. The difference between these two families is that one lives above ground, and the other family lives under the floor. This story is about how the family underground survives off of the humans' scraps and old things that sometimes they never even noticed went missing. It is told by a humans perspective that knew someone that saw "the borrowers" and actually helped them. This was a goo...more I read the book The Borrowers by Mary Norton
SUMMARY: There is an old house in the country where 2 families live. The difference between these two families is that one lives above ground, and the other family lives under the floor. This story is about how the family underground survives off of the humans' scraps and old things that sometimes they never even noticed went missing. It is told by a humans perspective that knew someone that saw "the borrowers" and actually helped them. This was a good story to read aloud to younger children.
CRITIQUE: This book is considered an Extraordinary World fantasy. The author creates a whole different world that people live in. They have a different way of living and use unusual objects that we would see as insignificant as main components of their homes. It is seen as believable because it is told by a humans point of view and from the beginning the audience is unaware if this really happened to the human or just a fable she is telling. The pictures throughout the book really helped me visualize what "the borrowers" house may look like and how they used such small objects for important things. This book definitely had a reading against the grain theme. There was a strong opinion between the male and female roles in "the borrowers" world. Homily (the mother) Arietty (the daughter) stayed underground and cooked and cleaned and waited for Pod ( the father) to get home from borrowing. That is what is also what is portrayed in the real world now a days. It was very unusual when Arietty asked her father to take her out "borrowing" but after a lot of debate he gave in. This book shows traditional gender roles that are expected of society.
RESPONSE: I thought this book would be a good read to younger children. I thought it was young for our age group. The author made the created world very convincing and consistent throughout the book. She did a very good job creating vivid imagery so i was able to understand how underground looked like even though there were a few visuals to help. I also enjoyed how the other "borrowers" that existed before this family were named after the different places in the house that they lived in. This was an interesting perspective and might be a view on how children might view the world when they are very small. (less)

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Dec 09, 2011 Katelyn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1. Fantasy

2. The Clock family are borrowers, a rare and tiny people, that live at the bottom of a grandfather clock. They must borrow things from average size humans, which makes things difficult for them. The struggles they face are large and life threatening, but they are determined to persevere.

3. A- This is an accurate example of a fantasy, but the real life setting makes it relatable for readers.

B- I love this story because of the details and thought provoking setting. It forces readers t...more

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May 16, 2011 Jeremy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is basically about little people "borrowing" things from human "beans" and MUST avoid being "seen" or else they are forced to emigrate. This book talks about one family in particular. The Clocks. The Clocks are your basic every day borrowers but when Pod has been "seen" by a boy who is a guest of the house, Homily persuades Pod into taking Arrietty borrowing but on her first day on the job, she has already been "seen" by the boy. After Arrietty has the boy send a letter to Uncle Hendre...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Trish rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The narrator was quite good. The kids loved imitating the English accent and the different silly inflections that Homily was given. They found her totally ridiculous. Hearing the story added a new dimension for me. I remember reading Borrower books as a kid, but I had no idea they were so British. Of course, I didn't know much about the UK when I was a kid. I liked the innovative world of little people living in hidden places of a house that no one really thinks about, and it's so true that some...more

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Sep 27, 2010 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are a number of books in this series, I have only read the 1st one, but I am positive the rest of the series is as wonderful!

Lazy days, rainy afternoons, and very cold days, when you are kept inside with nothing of importance to do, are perfect days to spin a tale. Mrs. May, the narrator in this story takes the opportunity that little Kate unwittingly gives her, and tells a story that in the end, nobody can tell if it’s true.
Kate loses her crochet hook and Mrs. May grabs her interest by e...more There are a number of books in this series, I have only read the 1st one, but I am positive the rest of the series is as wonderful!

Lazy days, rainy afternoons, and very cold days, when you are kept inside with nothing of importance to do, are perfect days to spin a tale. Mrs. May, the narrator in this story takes the opportunity that little Kate unwittingly gives her, and tells a story that in the end, nobody can tell if it’s true.
Kate loses her crochet hook and Mrs. May grabs her interest by exclaiming, “Don’t say they’re in this house too!” (p.4) Kate’s curiosity is peeked and Mrs. May feeds it by getting Kate herself to give reasons why there MUST be such a thing as Borrowers. “Because of all the things that disappear.” (p.5)
Soon Kate is sure the obscurity of all the missing things is about to be solved and begs Mrs. May to tell her the story so that she can know too. “Please go on. Please tell me-“. (p.7)
And so the tale starts to spin, and Mrs. May, as intended has an enthralled audience.
Mrs. May’s imagination in the story makes it easy for anyone to picture the home of the Clocks; “There was a padded lacquer trinket box, padded inside and with the lid open, which they used as a settle; and that useful stand-by-a chest of drawers made of match boxes.” (p.15)
Mrs. May adds danger to the story to keep Kate captivated when Pod is “seen” and when Arrietty is “seen” also. “Startled she caught her breath. Something had moved above her on the bank. Something had glittered. Arrietty stared. It was an eye.” (p.70 & 71)
Mrs. May seems to offer more proof that the story must be true by sharing her own experience of gifts she brought the Borrowers that mysteriously disappeared. (p.178)
When Kate and the reader are sure it must be true, an unexpected twist is thrown into the story at the very end. The finding of Arrietty’s book seems to clinch the truth neatly into place until Mrs. May mentions that...”Arrietty used to make her ‘e’s’ like little half-moons with a stroke in the middle-“ (p.180). Hmm... But her brother did too!

*Carnegie Medal winner
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award book
ALA Distinguished Book(less)

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Mar 18, 2010 Kirei rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: older-kids, teens-and-adults

This was a marvelous book. It is about little people who live in a large house and "borrow" things from humans.

I read it out loud to my seven year old son, and the problem is that I think he is way too immature for it. There are probably some seven year old's who can handle it--but my son isn't one of them. First of all, the vocabulary is very advanced for a kids' book, and very British. ("wainscot" "parquet" "baize" "scullery" and tons of other words) Second, the themes are quite deep. It is n...more

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Mar 07, 2010 Judy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-lit

This was absolutely one of my favorite books when I was growing up. I don't remember how old I was when I first read it but I do know I read it many times.

Borrowers are little, tiny people about the size of mice who live between the walls and under the floors of houses. They furnish their rooms and get their food and objects by "borrowing" from the house. The biggest danger is being "seen."

Arrietty Clock, the nine-year-old daughter of Pod and Homily, who sleeps in a cigar box bed and writes her...more

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Jun 22, 2009 Drebbles rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2004

Arrietty Clock and her parents, Pod and Homily, are tiny people who live beneath the floor of an old house and `borrow' the things they need from the humans who live in the house above. At one point, many borrowers lived in the house, but the others emigrated for various reasons and only the Clocks live in the house. While her parents seem happy, Arrietty longs to see the world outside. Her mother finally persuades Pod to take her borrowing and her first time out, she meets the boy upstairs. The...more

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Aug 27, 2010 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, children-s-and-ya

Oh, how I adored this book, as a child. It's not my favourite of the series, or it wasn't then, but it's the point where everything begins, and I love it for that. The books were published in the fifties, so they sometimes have a somewhat old-fashioned turn of phrase, and somewhat old-fashioned ideas. I suppose it's a book that couldn't really be written set in the modern day, either: we're too sceptical, for one thing, and all the rules that governed a big house in the Borrowers' days no longer...more Oh, how I adored this book, as a child. It's not my favourite of the series, or it wasn't then, but it's the point where everything begins, and I love it for that. The books were published in the fifties, so they sometimes have a somewhat old-fashioned turn of phrase, and somewhat old-fashioned ideas. I suppose it's a book that couldn't really be written set in the modern day, either: we're too sceptical, for one thing, and all the rules that governed a big house in the Borrowers' days no longer apply. Everything about this book is just perfectly suited for the setting, both in time and in place.

The thing that I loved most about it, I think, is that for a child it was just within the realm of possibility. Things do go missing like that -- there's never a safety pin or a darning needle when you need one, and scraps of paper are always vanishing, and wherever did that last little corner of toast go? Somebody ate it, or threw it away. Why not a Borrower? And yet I liked the uncertainty, too, the idea that one ten year old boy could have invented this story, because that made it feel more real, too.

The inventiveness of the Borrowers is a delight, too. Writing this book must have been so much fun: figuring out how tiny people would use human-sized implements. A ring for a crown, coins for plates, a flower for a parasol, safety pins to hold gates shut... I had a friend, at that age, who was very good at doing things like that for teddies. The ring pull from a can of coke could be a CD player/cassette player, an empty Ferrero Rocher box could be a boat or a glass display case or a wardrobe or... I've always loved that kind of inventiveness.

Thinking about this book in terms of my children's literature course is kinda interesting, too. I never realised, as a child, that there was a level of wry humour for adults, here. Aunt Sophy with her madeira, thinking that Pod came out of the bottle; her hints to Mrs Driver that the way to keep the Borrowers away was to keep a cork in the bottle; the way Pod escapes Homily to speak to Aunt Sophy, and it's a sort of 'men's club' for him.

It's still fun to read now. Mostly out of nostalgia, I suspect, and a lingering wish that someday me and Arriety might meet, and talk about books and her own adventures.(less)

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May 28, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, children-s

I had never read the Borrowers as a child, but Hayao Miyazaki's The Secret Life of Arrietty came out on Blu-Ray recently, so I decided to finally read the book. I wasn't disappointed.

Homily, Pod, and Arrietty are Borrowers. They live inside the "human beans" house like mice, only going out to borrow things from them as they need. Don't call it stealing though, stealing is borrowing something you already have. They are very rare and are only safe in very old houses where the humans living in them...more I had never read the Borrowers as a child, but Hayao Miyazaki's The Secret Life of Arrietty came out on Blu-Ray recently, so I decided to finally read the book. I wasn't disappointed.

Homily, Pod, and Arrietty are Borrowers. They live inside the "human beans" house like mice, only going out to borrow things from them as they need. Don't call it stealing though, stealing is borrowing something you already have. They are very rare and are only safe in very old houses where the humans living in them have fixed routines. You can't safely borrow unless you can predict their movements. The three though are quite safe and comfortable in their house until one day a sick boy comes, and sees Arrietty.

And when Borrowers are seen, they have to emigrate. Outside the house.

I was expecting to find this cloying and saccahrine. Like the Littles, an 80s TV Cartoon based on the other book that had similar themes. It isn't. The three Clocks (named for the clock they live in) are pragmatic, humorous, wistful, and real people. The book wouldn't work at all if it had the least bit of feyness or cutesiness, and to Norton's credit there isn't any there. It just works on the strength of its ideas and characters. It has some wistfulness, too:

"They thought human beings were just invented to do the dirty work-great slaves put there for them to use. At least, that's what they told each other. But my brother said that underneath, he thought they were frightened. It was because they were frightened, he thought, that they had grown so small. Each generation had become smaller, and smaller, and more and more hidden. In the olden days, it seems, and in some parts of England, our ancestors talked quite openly of the 'little people.'"

Or where Arriety meets the boy for the second time, and realizes how many humans and how few Borrowers there are:

He drew back, his fair head blocking out a great piece of sky. "Well," he said deliberately after a moment, and his eyes were cold, "I've only seen two Borrowers, but I've seen hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds-"
"Oh no-" whispered Arriety.
"Of human beings." And he sat back.
Arrietty stood very still. She did not look at him. After a while she said: "I don't believe you."
"All right," he said, "then I'll tell you-"
"I still wont believe you," murmured Arrietty.

I can see why Hayao Miyazki chose this book to make into a film. I enjoyed both, and regret not reading this sooner.(less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Borrowers

1-Genre: Fantasy

2-Within a house there is a family of Borrowers. They live their lives “borrowing” from humans to eat and make their home. This is the story of a borrowing family- Pod, Homily, and Arrietty. Normally it is just Pod that makes his way up to the house above to do the borrowing but he decides that it is time for Arrietty to learn the trade. But while Arrietty is making her way through the house she makes a vital error that no Borrower must make, which is to be spotted b...more The Borrowers

1-Genre: Fantasy

2-Within a house there is a family of Borrowers. They live their lives “borrowing” from humans to eat and make their home. This is the story of a borrowing family- Pod, Homily, and Arrietty. Normally it is just Pod that makes his way up to the house above to do the borrowing but he decides that it is time for Arrietty to learn the trade. But while Arrietty is making her way through the house she makes a vital error that no Borrower must make, which is to be spotted by a human. Arrietty also makes matters worse because the boy not only sees her but she speaks to the boy. Now the Borrowers must make the decision to take a dangerous adventure to move away from the home or take the risk of staying still hoping no harm will come from the boy.

3-(a) Word choice
(b) Throughout this story the author shows her great ability to make this fantasy story seem believable through word choice. She connects with the reader on a personal level allowing the reader to question everyday occurrences that happen in real everyday life. This allows the reader to fully enter the fantasy world of the book allowing reality to simply fade away.
(c) One way the author the author makes a personal connection with the reader is through her mentioning of belongings that simply disappear. “Because of all the things that disappear. Safety pins, for instance. Factories go on making safety pins, and everyday people go on buying safety pins and yet, somehow, there never is a safety pin just when you want one.” Immediately the reader makes the connection that quite often in their own lives things seem to simply just disappear, such as hair ties, pencils, markers, and the other matching sock that you can never seem to find. It is because of the way the author presents this fact to the reader that allows the reader to make the connection and begin to believe what is occurring in the book might just be occurring in their world as well.

4-Teachers could use this selection to teach students the elements of a fantasy story. Teachers could then have students write their own fantasy story. Their fantasy story would revolve around items that have gone missing in their own house and what they think happened to those items.
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Feb 02, 2013 Karen Field rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can easily believe that little people exist who ‘borrow’ things. How often have you put something down and a moment later it’s gone? And what about all those times when you’ve gone to retrieve something, and you know exactly where you put it, only to find it isn’t there? This happens to me all the time.

It’s not hard to imagine how a story like this could create a world of imagination and excitement for children—the age group the story was written for. I’m not a child but I found the story and...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Laurie Cameron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I came upon a kindle version of this book for only $1.59. What a delightfully, imaginative tale! Little people live under the floor or behind the mantels of manor houses from which they gather whatever they need. After all, the human beans that live in the house are just invented to do their dirty work, great slaves put there for them to use, aren’t they? And borrow these little people do, from safety-pins to bits of handkerchiefs to thimbles to coal and more. I had no trouble imaging the daught...more

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May 20, 2013 Jada Bennett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have never seen a Studio Ghibli film. Nope; not one yet.
But I have however, seen trailers for some of their movies.
You might be wondering "Oh, well I can't really seem to get where she's going with this. She's probably finally gone off the deep end better quit this review now", but worry not about my mental sanity, dear hypothetical reader, and please bare with me.
Awhile back I recall good old SG coming out with some movie called "The Secret World of Arrietty" or something like that-like I sai...more I have never seen a Studio Ghibli film. Nope; not one yet.
But I have however, seen trailers for some of their movies.
You might be wondering "Oh, well I can't really seem to get where she's going with this. She's probably finally gone off the deep end better quit this review now", but worry not about my mental sanity, dear hypothetical reader, and please bare with me.
Awhile back I recall good old SG coming out with some movie called "The Secret World of Arrietty" or something like that-like I said, I've never seen a Studio Ghibli movie. I never thought twice about this movie until I read "The Borrowers" and realized that that the movie they made WAS "The Borrowers". So now I had to read the entire book with the image of everyone having huge anime eyes, and let me tell you, that was quite entertaining sometimes XD
The book/movie inspiration revolves around the Borrowers, little people who live in the houses of "human beans" and "borrow" things from them to survive. No really; it's borrowing not stealing. Pod and Homily are the parents of the teenaged Arrietty, who is just old enough now to start learning how to borrow. And apparently this is a big deal because Pod was "seen", or a girl's never been a borrower or whatever. Arrietty is seen herself by a human boy who she befriends and reads books to because he grew up in India and is sick or something. And in return he gives her family nice trinkets to lighten up the floorboard they call a home.
That stupid intro and sarcastic summary aside, I liked this book a lot. It's part of a series, and that fact shows quite well within the pacing and storytelling, but it's not in a particularly bad way. I would love to read the rest of the series, if I was given the time. The one problem I suppose I had with it is the amount of things it left unanswered. In the ending, it makes sense, but there are other points in the book that I wish it hadgone into more detail. You saw (read?) me poking fun at some of the book's plot up there, but I'm really serious. I get that the Borrowers are the main focus here, but I wish we could've known a bit more about the boy, or atleast his name. I mean, the narrator just happens to be his sister (Is this starting to get annoying yet?), so I thought she'd know his name at minimum.
That aside, this was a very enjoyable, quirky book that sets good grounds for a series. Definately recommended.(less)

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Nov 08, 2007 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: ages 8-12

Shelves: childrensbooks, classicsworthreading, fantasy

I was fascinated by this book as a kid - I think I could relate to feeling small in a world dominated by giants. I liked the sneaking around through a secret passage under the clock, to come out and explore the house at night. My favorite part was the description of Arriety's room, with its accompanying illustration. I wasn't so pleased with the sulky boy, who ended up ruining everything for Arriety's family.
A quirky Victorian classic!

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Aug 07, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Tiny people live in your house! A tiny little girl and her parents live out their daily lives under the baseboards of an old house. They furnish their home with items "borrowed" from the larger home (the girl sleeps in a bed made from a cigar box). Although years ago there were many "Borrowers," there is only one family left. This is an odd story, with that dark sort of whimsey that has fallen out of favor since the second world war.

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May 13, 2012 Claire Conlon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Borrowers written by Mary Norton is one of my all time favourite books. I remember reading it when I was in year 4 and I was still able to relate to the ‘clock’ family as I also felt like a mini person sometimes. The Clocks were a little family who lived under the floor of a normal family. The Clock’s borrowed items such as thimbles and buttons that the normal family never realised were gone but were very useful for them. Arrietty Clock is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clock and she wants to...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Arietty, Pod, and Homily Clock are a family of Borrowers: tiny people who live inside big country homes and borrow things from us “human beans.” They are the reason things like safety pins always disappear, and the reason there never seems to be as much sugar as there was the last time you checked. When a new bean arrives at the house, first Arietty’s father and then Arietty herself are seen by him. It is very dangerous to be seen: the humans could try to capture or kill them. But it seems that...more
Arietty, Pod, and Homily Clock are a family of Borrowers: tiny people who live inside big country homes and borrow things from us “human beans.” They are the reason things like safety pins always disappear, and the reason there never seems to be as much sugar as there was the last time you checked. When a new bean arrives at the house, first Arietty’s father and then Arietty herself are seen by him. It is very dangerous to be seen: the humans could try to capture or kill them. But it seems that this human might be different; maybe he just wants to be friends with the Clock family. How will they react? Will they leave, the way all the other Borrower families did after they were seen by humans? Or will they become friends with this strange bean boy?

A friend recommend Mary Norton's The Borrowers series to me when we saw a preview for Hayao Miyazaki’s film The Secret World of Arietty. (It’s a lovely film, by the way.) I trusted my friend’s advice, and I was not disappointed. Norton’s novel is charming, original, and finely detailed. The Borrowers , the first book in the series, was published in 1953 but is set much earlier. The first thing a modern reader will notice is that it reads like a time capsule of turn of the century England. There are mentions of hat pins, blotting paper, day and night nursery rooms, and sending the children back from India because of fever. Norton also preserves (perhaps unfortunately) the social structures of the time in the Borrowers: readers will come to learn that the wealthy Overmantels, who drank tea and smoked tobacco, looked down on the Clock family, who lived under the kitchen.

Perhaps Norton’s best talent lies in characterization: every person in the story, Borrower and human alike, is thoroughly fleshed out. Despite their fairy-like size, the Borrowers do not seem like fantastic creatures. They are as perfectly human as every other character. Young readers will love the dynamics of the Clock family, with the quiet but capable father, the fretful mother, and the daughter who longs for adventure. Arietty was my favorite, perhaps predictably, because Norton has a talent for writing defiant yet loving young women. Arietty is brave and kind, and while she respects her family very much, she insists on figuring things out for herself.

There are, however, a few drawbacks to the book. Homily, Arietty’s mother, fusses and frets so much she began to remind me powerfully of Mrs. Bennet, and the less ladies of that particular temperament I encounter the better. She also has quite a materialistic bent, sending her husband and daughter on dangerous borrowing missions so that she can have new carpets, in order to “keep nice things nice.” The illustrations, at least in the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition, leave a little something to be desired. And although I found the text to be more pleasant than challenging, some some modern readers may find it dated.

Despite the book’s imperfections, it makes a great read for children or adults. Children can talk to their parents or each other about the differences in perception between the big and little people and why each is afraid of the other. They can spend time in the yard or the park looking for possible badger’s sets, or look along the baseboard for possible entrances to Borrower homes. (I would have done, anyway, if I were a kid.) Adults can enjoy everything the children can in this story, because it’s not cloying or overly simplistic. They can also enjoy the sly jokes, particularly the ones in which adults see Borrowers whilst tipsy on Madeira wine and then the next day decide they’ve imagined the whole thing. In all, The Borrowers was so enjoyable that I read it through in one sitting, and would happily recommend anyone else do the same.
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Feb 17, 2013 Kacey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I never actually got to read this story when I was at the right age to soak it in. I can see how the idea of little people living in the house and "borrowing" things would appeal to children. The unnamed boy stood in for the readers as he discovered this world and later tried to participate in it.

The story-within-a-story format was an interesting touch. And by the end, it really put a new perspective on what we learned about the Clocks. It leaves the reader with questions. I admit I really like...more

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About Mary Norton

Mary Norton (née Pearson) was an English children's author. She was the daughter of a physician, and was raised in a Georgian house at the end of the High Street in Leighton Buzzard. The house now consists of part of Leighton Middle School, known within the school as The Old House, and was reportedly the setting of her novel The Borrowers. She married Robert C. Norton in 1927 and had four children...more

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