The Borrowers

The Borrowers #1

by Mary Norton

The Borrowers lived in the secret places of quiet old houses: behind the mantle piece , inside the harpsichord, underneath the kitchen clock. The owned nothing, borrowed everything and thought that humans were in invented to do the dirty work - great slaves put there for them to use. But they do not stay long where there are unruly children or certain household pets, and if by chance that they are 'seen' they move at once.

Arriettys father, Pod , was an expert borrower. He could scale curtain using a hat pin, and bring back dolls tea cups without breaking it . girls weren't supposed to go borrowing , but as Arrietty was an only child her father broke that rule, and then something happened which changed their lives. She made friends with the Boy.

Mary Norton- The Borrowers , With Illustrations From Diana Stanley

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Classics, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adventure

153 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

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, 2 boys and 2 girls. Her second husband was Lionel Boncey, who she married in 1970. She began working for the War Office in 1940 before the family moved temporarily to the United States.

She began writing while working for the British Purchasing Commission in New York during the Second World War. Her first book was The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons published in 1943, which, together with the sequel Bonfires and Broomsticks, became the basis for the Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Mary Norton died of a stroke in Devon, England in 1992.