A review by kendranicole28
The Borrowers by Mary Norton

4.0

Homily and Pod Clock, and their teenage daughter Arrietty, are not like other families. For one thing, they have no extended family or friends, as all moved away long ago. For another, they spend their days foraging for food, furniture, and anything else they need from the house beneath whose walls they have made their home. And then, of course, is the fact that they are tiny people, hardly larger than mice. Homily and Pod are comfortable with their way of life, but Arrietty longs for more, and when the family is discovered by the “human beans” off of whom they live, they have no choice but make some changes.

This is a book I’ve known about since I was a child, but had never read, and I was excited to read it aloud with the kids. It was a little less fantastical/imaginative than I expected: of course it is fantasy, but some of the themes are pretty deep—themes of unfulfilled dreams, the meaning of family and home, the place we hold in this world and how we relate to those who are different from us, and the timeless challenges inherent in the parent-teen dynamic. I liked the chance to explore these issues within the context of a sweet adventure story. 

The prose here is fairly old-fashioned, which the kids didn’t love, but mostly we really liked this one (but probably not enough to continue with the series).

My Rating: 4 Stars // Charleston’s Rating: 4 Stars // Book Format: Print