The Borrowers Afield » (Reissue)

MARY NORTON (1903-1992) lived in England, where she was an actress playwright, and award-winning author. As a child she created a make-believe world in which tiny people inhabited the hedgerows, living their lives out of the sight of humans. It is from this private fantasy that her most well-known books, those about the Borrowers, came about.

Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock's huge adventures have been thrilling children young and old for fifty years—and their appeal is as strong as ever in these handsome new paperback packages. While the original beloved interior illustrations by Beth and Joe Krush have been retained, Marla Frazee's striking cover illustrations capture these little people with a larger-than-life appeal.

Children's Literature

There had been rumors of the "little people" who lived in the walls of houses, but they were never confirmed. On a visit to the country, Kate was able to track down Tom Goodenough and get the whole story. Kate learned that after a traumatic incident involving a cat, Pod and Homily and their daughter Arrietty fled the house and were left to fend for themselves outdoors. This was a great shock and most unwelcome, and their only hope was to find friends, but that was complicated by the fact that they were tiny and that the field they had to cross was very large. It was their good fortune to find an old boot right away, and that became a home for them. After a dramatic rescue, they end up with Tom Goodenough safe and sound. Homily became quite depressed, and her pessimistic attitude is a very somber note in this story. Spiller, a young male borrower they encounter, and the gypsies add a bit of color to a story, which is rather gloomy and dull.