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Mary Norton (1) (1903–1992)

Author of The Borrowers

For other authors named Mary Norton, see the disambiguation page.

29+ Works 19,127 Members 229 Reviews 2 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: Angus McBean

Series

Works by Mary Norton

Associated Works

Bedknobs and Broomsticks [1971 film] (1971) — Original book — 414 copies
Poems of Childhood (1896) — Illustrator, some editions — 298 copies
Arrietty [2010 film] (2010) — Author — 223 copies
Over the Rainbow Tales of Fantasy and Imagination (1983) — Contributor — 61 copies
A Golden Land (1958) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Borrowers: Series 1 [1992 TV mini series] (1992) — Original book — 17 copies
Chosen for Children (1957) — Contributor — 5 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 5, January 1976 (1976) — Contributor — 3 copies

Tagged

20th century (57) adventure (222) Borrowers (170) British (80) chapter book (153) Chapter Book Series (92) children (364) children's (771) children's book (78) children's books (119) children's classics (52) children's fiction (294) children's literature (355) children-ya (46) classic (186) classics (124) DVD (76) England (165) family (94) fantasy (1,358) fiction (1,435) illustrated (48) juvenile (130) juvenile fiction (121) kids (91) literature (65) little people (152) magic (81) Mary Norton (67) novel (110) own (51) poetry (90) read (155) series (204) The Borrowers (105) to-read (244) unread (52) witches (61) YA (81) young adult (116)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

Uprooted once again, the little people journey down a drain, live briefly in a teakettle, and are swept away in a flood.
 
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PlumfieldCH | 13 other reviews | Dec 9, 2023 |
The Clock family--Homily, Pod, and their fourteen-year-old daughter, Arrietty--are tiny people who live underneath the kitchen floor of an English manor. All their minuscule home furnishings, from postage stamp paintings to champagne cork chairs, are "borrowed" from the "human beans" who tromp around loudly above them. All is well until Pod is spotted upstairs by a human boy! Can the Clocks stay nested safely in their beloved hidden home, or will they be forced to flee?
 
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PlumfieldCH | 122 other reviews | Dec 7, 2023 |
A Book From Your Childhood

Although I have no specific memories of it, I know that I read The Borrowers when I was younger. I'm certain my younger self enjoyed this whimsical tale of miniature people living within the walls and under the floorboards of an English estate, borrowing food and clothing and brick-a-brac from the humans above. The people who exist for the Borrowers' convenience. What's interesting in rereading it as an adult is to see adult themes subtly introduced and know that many of the novel's finer points were probably lost on me. That the mild feminism displayed in Homily's admonition of her husband, Pod, that if he had a son he would have already taken him borrowing (after he refuses to consider taking his daughter) was lost on my adolescent innocence. That the personalities introduced, the shrewish Mrs Driver, the not-so-dotty Great Aunt Sophy, the Boy and especially the narrator's unnamed brother entertained me without necessarily causing me to think too hard about the way the world works.

Seventy-plus years afters its publication, The Borrowers is still a great book both for children to read and adults to revisit (or read for the first time, if you've never had the pleasure).
… (more)
½
 
Flagged
skavlanj | 122 other reviews | Sep 24, 2023 |
Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock - the family of tiny Borrowers - think they have at last found an ideal home. They've moved into a house in a miniature village built as a hobby by a retired railroad man. The village is just the perfect size for Borrowers, and after the hardships they've faced, the Clocks gratefully settle into the luxury of having a "proper" house. The easy life makes them careless.

Or rather, it makes Arrietty careless. She befriends a "human bean, " and the next thing Arrietty knows, she and her family have been kidnapped. Their captors are a greedy married couple, called the Platters, who have big plans for the little people. They have created their own miniature village in a glass case and plan to imprison the Borrowers within - like animals in a zoo - for the rest of their lives.… (more)
 
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PlumfieldCH | 9 other reviews | Sep 21, 2023 |

Lists

1940s (1)

Awards

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Associated Authors

Diana Stanley Illustrator
Gavin Scott Screenwriter
Joe Krush Illustrator
Beth Krush Illustrator
Michael Hague Illustrator
Sian Bailey Illustrator
Cilla Johnson Translator
Ilon Wikland Illustrator
Anthony Lewis Illustrator
Erik Blegvad Illustrator
Birgitta Hammar Translator
Pauline Baynes Illustrator
Brian Froud Illustrator
Ann Brunsdon Introduction
Joan Kiddell-Monroe Illustrator.
Waldo Peirce Illustrator
Mary Adshead Illustrator

Statistics

Works
29
Also by
10
Members
19,127
Popularity
#1,139
Rating
3.9
Reviews
229
ISBNs
405
Languages
16
Favorited
2

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