Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This is a childhood must. Must. Absolute must. Something about the incredible creativity and wholesomeness of this book puts it on my most dear classics shelf next to Narnia, Pooh, Paddington, Betsy Tacy, Stuart Little, Five Children and It and Cowboy Small. The Borrowers is magical and creative and full of wonder and awe. My 3, 5 & 7 year olds sat listening to me read with rapt attention and genuine affection for this treasure. In many stories we talk about the power or genius coming from specific characters, events or actions. In Narnia we love Aslan and the story arc and values that inspire greatness in the characters. In Pooh we revel in the simple wholesome attitudes of friendship and love that permeate all of the decisions. In the Borrowers, we do not look to the book for the genius but the author. A bit like Tolkien in Middle Earth, we celebrate not what happens in the book but the actual landscape that Norton has created. It isn't that we particularly love Homily or Pod or that we can really relate to Arrietty that prompts us to keep reading. It is more of our own curiosity about HOW they live that propels us forward. Before there is any doll furniture in the house, these little people "borrow" everyday items from the rest of us that they use in totally different ways for their everyday existence... postage stamps as wall art... blotting paper as rugs... carpet fibers turned into brushes... safety pins used as grappling hooks. These little Borrowers teach us much about creative ingenuity and stewardship of resources all while we are having incredible fun! I am so very glad that this is only the first in a series of books and that many have said that the others are equally good.