Anyone who has ever entertained the notion of "little people" living furtively among us will adore this artfully spun classic. The Borrowers--a Carnegie Medal winner, a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award book, and an ALA Distinguished Book--has stolen the hearts of thousands of readers since its 1953 publication. Mary Norton (1903-1993) creates a make-believe world in which tiny people live hidden from humankind beneath the floorboards of a quiet country house in England.

Pod, Homily, and daughter Arrietty of the diminutive Clock family outfit their subterranean quarters with the tidbits and trinkets they've "borrowed" from "human beans," employing matchboxes for storage and postage stamps for paintings. Readers will delight in the resourceful way the Borrowers recycle household objects. For example, "Homily had made her a small pair of Turkish bloomers from two glove fingers for 'knocking about in the mornings.'"

The persistent pilfering goes undetected until a boy (with a ferret!) comes to live in the country house. Curiosity drives Arrietty to commit the worst mistake a Borrower can make: she allows herself to be seen. This engaging, sometimes hair-raisingly suspenseful adventure is recounted in the kind, eloquent voice of narrator Mrs. May, whose brother might--just might--have seen an actual Borrower in the country house many years ago. (Ages 9 to 12)

Customer Rating:
Summary: Fine story, of mice or men?
Comment: Don't we all drop those little things
and misplace the scissors?
So who is taking these things?
Wee people or pack rats maybe?
The story is the edge a fantasy and the hope
of little girls to find real people the size of dolls.
We are all hoping that the mean old rat catchers of the world come up dry of little people!
The writing is very good and the story
gets you going. I like this one very much
like the story of Ben Franklin with a mouse in his pocket
who was the real inventor? Tales talking animals
and here,little people will always please the young.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Borrowers by M. Norton
Comment: Whoosh! You see a hat pin sail across the room, much like a javelin, and pin onto the lace curtain. Then, a small man no more than six inches tall scurries across the room.

Welcome to the world of the Borrowers; Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock. They live under the floorboards and borrow anything from potatoes to blotting paper. The tiny people live in an old country house, inhabited by `human beans'.
All goes well for the small family until Arrietty is `seen' by a boy. The Borrowers think that `human beans' are always vicious and bad, but this boy turns out to be friendly.
The boy befriends the Clocks and even helps them borrow.
Then, Pod makes the mistake of borrowing precious knick-knacks from the mistress.
Mrs. Driver, the housekeeper, is getting suspicious. Who could be stealing these things?
She sprouts a plan to trap the thieves.
Will the Clocks be caught? Will they have to emigrate?

I thought this book was funny. The Borrowers have limited knowledge on the outside world making the way they act and think seem silly. The book is entertaining, and it is not action packed all the way. It gives you time to think about what you just read, and doesn't zoom through everything. This book is good for all ages. Mary Norton did a great job writing this book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: great book
Comment: A classic from my childhood, I enjoy giving this to pre-teen girls and all of them have said they enjoy it, too.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Borrowers: Fiftieth Anniversary
Comment: I love this book - I got it for my granddaughter, who will love it as well.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Free SF Reader
Comment: The Borrowers are tiny little guys, but otherwise people. They get along by using junk that is lying around and adapting it for their own use. This book is about what happens when a human boy actually discovers them, after moving into their area.

Not a particularly uncommon theme, and this one is pretty dull.

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