The Borrowers: A Carnegie Medal-Winning Fantasy About a Secret Family of Little People for Children (Ages 8-12)

I like kids books. I read these to my son before he went to school. He was forever checking under things in case there were borrowers . I would hope that they put the other books in this series on kindle. By the way he turned 41 this year and when he asked me what I was reading I told him this and he laughed and said classic.

Some books fail to hold their wonder after seventy years, but The Borrowers is one of those books that proved, at least to me, to be even better now than when I first read it as a child. Mary Norton's Borrowers, little people who live between floors and behind the walls of old houses and survive by "borrowing" what they need to live, gave our family a way to explain away things that suddenly went missing: "Didn't I leave a paper clip here to hold this report together?" "The Borrowers must have made off with it." So I remembered the clever little home furnishings -- postage stamps for wall hangings, thread spools for stools, and so forth. For awhile, as I read this book as a child, every object seemed to summon in me a guess about how the Borrowers might put the thing to good use. And I found myself daydreaming that way as I re-read the book more than forty years later. Illustrations by Beth and Joe Krush added to the magic; if you purchase this book, find one with the illustrations, which add significantly to the book. Most of all, I marvelled at how Norton had crafted a story that retained its viability after all this time. Sure, the creative world she created for the Borrowers was still enthralling, but the plot itself holds up as well: will the Borrowers survive being seen? Who can be trusted, and who can't be trusted to keep their secret? So at its heart, the book is about an essential question: how do we thrive in a way that is meaningful for us when outside forces threaten to tear it apart? All great books wrestle with important questions, with questions that withstand time. "The Borrowers," despite its seemingly simple concept, is one of those books, asking one of those questions, and delivering a wonderful story in answering it.

In 1953, English writer Mary Norton introduced to the world the concept of The Borrowers: little people who lived in our old, over filled homes under floor boards or behind mantels and they sustained themselves on the waste that "human beans" discarded or forgot about. Within this book we learn of the family of the Clocks, P:od, Homily and Arriety, the entrance to their home being beneath the ancient grandfather clock in the front hall. The story takes place in the rural areas of England around the turn of the 19th century. The test of a really good childrens book is how enjoyable it is to an adult. This book is a classic (and the four that follow itas sequels) because it is so well written. It's in a catoagory with "A WRinkle in TIme", "Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of Nimh", "Things Not seden" and "The Currious Incident of the dog after Moidnight." Mrs. Norton wrote beautifully and is best known for her book, "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" though this book-and the subsequent books- have you fall in love with thesedtiny creatures, so human like, to the point where one almost wishes that they shared a house with you; that somewhere beneath the floor board or in your pantry is a small house set up with your blotting paper or left over wall paper, furnished with old scicorrs and doll house firniture and fed by the food that is carelesslhy left pout. These creatures "Borrow" items-things that aren't likely to be missed, The adventure in this tale is when a small boy, recovering at his great aunts summer home from scarlett fever, discovers and befirneds the Clocks. Read this to your children so that some day they will read it to their own. If you can manage to find this bookm in first edition, treat it with care as it is rare and valuable. I would not read John Irving or Barbara Kingsolver to my children, but Mary Morton is just as good. I promise.

Review first published on jenasbookreviews.blogspot.com A classic tale of the little people who live in your walls or under your floors and are the reason things are not where you put them. Sweetly told by an older lady to a young girl in the house she lived in as a story she heard from her brother about what happened one year when he was staying with his aunt. One of the biggest rules of the Borrowers, as they call themselves, is to not be seen but that year there were only a family of three that seemed to still be living in the house and the young daughter was bored and desperate for a friend. Arrietty was finally allowed to go borrowing with her father and ended up being seen by the young boy. Their friendship was something they both needed but when the boy started bringing them too many presents, their lives were forever turned upside down. There is now a Miyazaki film based on this book that we have and I need to watch. The story itself is cute, very simple and sweet. My 10yr old says he enjoyed it but not enough to be interested in reading any of the others and I can see why. Maybe more happens in those books but this was definitely a slower moving book than he tends to like. I have to say that even if he did, I probably wouldn't continue with the series either as it is a bit slow.

Not five minutes ago I saw "The Borrowers" listed under the kindle Feb. releases and I hit the one click button fast. This beautiful book was one of the first books I read as a child. Our elementary school had a library and each child was expected to take out and read a book every week (on Friday afternoon no less). When I found this book, I found my passion, my imagination soared and I fell head over heals in love with reading. I was about 8 and a very active child, running and playing and loving the outdoors. But this book stopped me in my tracks. For days I ran to my bedroom and tucked myself up with it while my family watched TV. When I got older and was planning for my children I began looking for the book and couldn't find it. I am thrilled to be able to place it in my digital library. Reading has taken a back-seat to video. I've learned from experience that this is not good for our young people. Creative thinking is developed through use of the imagination. Our children need to be able to think creatively if they are to develop the skills to lead us in the future. Books like this help them along the way."The Borrowers," is fun, full of fantasy, and an easy read. Curl up in a chair and have your little one join you to read with a lot of fun and laughter along the way. The benefits for everyone are golden.

I remember buying this book as a kid (some 40 years ago) through the Scholastic book club flier we got every few months at school. I still have the paperback to this day because it has always been one of my favorite stories. Something about little people living among us captured my imagination! I guess I always wished it was really a possibility! It was definately a story I shared with my own kids, even telling them that if they looked closely they might find little people living under the mushrooms we found in the yard! :-) I guess this book is probably what also brought on my interest in collecting fairy figurines too. The fanciful world of the Borrowers will live in my heart forever. If you haven't read the book - it is a wonderful little story to share with your children. I'm excited to finally have the opportunity to have it on my Kindle - especially since my old paperback is really getting worn!

I read this book over ** years ago so sent it to my granddaughter so she would understand why I say maybe her missing sock was taken by The Borrowers.

This is a book that can be enjoyed by all ages...from grade school on up. I was well into adulthood when I read this book. I picked up the series at the library but decided I want to own the books. Will introduce them to my granddaughters when they're a bit older--maybe age six or so. But buy this book even if you don't have any kids or grandkids! This book was the inspiration for the movie 'The Secret World of Arrietty.' I won't see the movie because I have a picture in my mind of all the characters. Don't want a movie changing that.