The Borrowers Aloft

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 show more Borrowers within - like animals in a zoo - for the rest of their lives.

Includes the short tale "Poor Stainless". show less

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 show more Borrowers within - like animals in a zoo - for the rest of their lives. show less

After being uprooted to escape danger more than once, the little Clock family—Pod, Homily, and their teenaged daughter Arrietty—have been settling into a comfortable life of borrowing in a miniature village. But a few human beings' interest in the Clocks puts the family back in jeopardy in The Borrowers Aloft by author Mary Norton.

While I enjoyed the first two Borrowers' books and two Borrowers' movies back in my childhood, this is my first time reading this far into this classic children's fantasy series. I think it's my fondness for the characters, rather than the story, that made me like this fourth book as much as I did.

I got a bit tired during the early chapters with humans talking about the borrowers; the story's focus could show more have turned to the borrowers themselves sooner. I was also a little disappointed about not getting to see Spiller until quite late in the book, though his significance concerning Arrietty snaps up a couple of notches. And the ending is a calm cliffhanger, not exactly a happy one, with a tearful (redundant?) promise from Arrietty that I found dissatisfying, anticlimactic, and maybe pointless.

Even so, it's great how the Clocks work together, all three using their heads for the escape they need to make. Plus, I always like the thought-provoking tidbits in their conversations and reflections that truly show their borrower ideology. (Like, the fact that humans hunt humans absolutely appalls borrowers, which I 1000% understand.)

I'm hoping for a fulfilling series conclusion in the next and last book.
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Update after reading The Borrowers Avenged, the fifth and last book of the series:

I'd recommend either getting your hands on an original copy of Book Four, The Borrowers Aloft, or finding Book Four's original conclusion online somewhere. Then let that original ending be The End.

A few more of my thoughts are here. show less

The Borrowers Aloft is the fourth book in the series, and was published in 1961. I believe it was originally intended to be the last book about the borrowers, because the final book (The Borrowers Avenged) was not published until 1982. It's interesting to see this as the original place that Norton wanted to leave her story and characters. Much as I love the last book, in some ways I wish she left these conclusions intact...

In this story, the Clock family has reached the mythical village of Little Fordham — a miniature model village built by a retired railway man, Mr. Pott. Here the borrowings are rich, and everything in the town is built as if expressly for the use of the borrowers. Pod, Homily, and Arrietty move into Vine Cottage, show more and seem to be settling down into their new life when a most unexpected thing happens. They are kidnapped by Mr. Platter, owner of a rival model village, and kept in an attic all winter while Mr. Platter builds their cage: a lovely little house with a glass front and nowhere for the borrowers to escape the merciless eye of the public. They are doomed.

For some reason Pod reminds me so strongly of my own father in this story. It's fascinating to see how they react to the knowledge of their inevitable doom at the hands of the Platters — and how they come up with an ingenius way to escape at last. The humor comes out again in Norton's choice of names: Mr. Pott and Mr. Platter, owners of the rival model villages.

In this book it becomes quite clear that Norton intends Arrietty and Spiller to marry. He is concerned — showing it only as much as his reserve will allow — and Arrietty talks to her parents quite openly about marrying him. What I don't like in the last book is the hint that Norton changed her mind, and Spiller and Arrietty don't end up together. I wish she had left it where it was in this book... on the horizon, but not in the least urgent. The last scene, in which Arrietty promises to never speak to a human being again, is quite powerful.

I adore these books and I cannot recommend them highly enough. If you've never read them, you're in for a treat. show less

Another solid entry in the saga. I found this and its immediate predecessor to be much stronger, much more engaging than the first two. I love the ingenuity the borrowers show, I adore that Pod listens to Arrietty with respect and admiration, and Spiller is almost (dare I say it?) sweet. Homily is a pain, but in a realistic way.

Mary Norton was one of my all time favorite authors as a child and I am pleased to say that her books stand the test of time as I still enjoy them as an adult. I find her premise to be super creative and well thought out and I really like her characters. I think the books are wonderful and I also think you should never watch the movie as it's awful and shouldn't even share a name with the novels.

A cute addition to the series. The Borrowers have made it to Little Fordham. We get a bit of backstory about the maker of the tiny town and of course there's a baddie making a town of his own. The Borrowers get Borrowernapped, they learn how to make a balloon, and they soar back home.

There's a lot to like about this series, especially the miniature worlds and how the Borrowers can use any manner of things in ways we never intended them. It's a fun world.

Worth the read. One more, onward!