Borrowers Afield [Hardcover]

Mary Norton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1955

The further adventures of the family of miniature people who, after losing their home under the kitchen floor of an old English house, are forced to move out to the fields.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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. (Children's Literature ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Joe & Beth Krush have illustrated many books for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt such as "The Borrowers", "The Borrowers Away" and "Gone Away Lake".

MARY NORTON (1903-1992) lived in England, where she was an actress, playwright, and award-winning author of books for young readers, including Bed-Knob and Broomstick, the basis for the classic Disney film, and Are All the Giants Dead? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 194 pages
• Publisher: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd (December 1955)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0460056573
• ISBN-13: 978-0460056571
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A slow starter but good book all around, March 10, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Borrowers Afield (Paperback)

This book is the second book in a series by Mary Norton about little people who borrow what they need to survive from humans.The borrowers from book one are Arrietty, Homily and Pod. They continue their story in this sequel. In this book other borrowers are introduced. These include Spiller, Uncle Hendreary, Eggletina(one of Arrietty's three cousins) and Aunt Lupy.
In the beginning, I found this book to somewhat boring. It was a narrative from a human called Kate. She was the girl who learned of this story in book one. She and her Great Aunt Sophie travel from their home in the city to the country where Great Aunt Sophie inherited a cottage. This cottage is near where the borrowers story started. There was a complication however. It seemed that someone else lived in that same cottage. This man was now old. He lived there in the cottage for 80 years. Kate and Great Aunt Sophie want to find out if the story of the borrowers is real or not. Old Tom Goodenough is the man who lived in the cottage. He was also the young man in the original story who was brought in to use his ferret to try to get the borrowers out of the house. He remembers the borrowers. He had Arrietty's diary and let Kate read it. The book then flashes back to the actual time when Arreitty, Homily and Pod are escaping from the big house and trying to survive in their new world.
They had to try to find the Badger Set where they think other family mambers are living. This is the story of their journey. Arrietty, Homily and Pod find an old boot and decide that it would be their sleeping area. They had to drag it with them during the day, while they looked for the badger set. You could say this was an early camping trailer. They had a hard time finding the badger set, and decided to secure the boot under a stumps root and use it as a permanent home. Arrietty met Spiller who helped them. He supplied them with meat, tea, candles and a lot of other things. Spiller would borrow these items from a number of souces. He used a tin soap box for a boat and floated up and down the stream. Things were going well and then the frost came and then the first snow. They ran out of food and had to rely only on some wine that Spiller gave them. They got drunk and forgot to cover their entrance and a gypsy who was the owner of the boot, found it and took it home. Arrietty, Homily and Pod were still in the boot!
This is where the book gets really good. I won't ruin the surprise of this books ending for you.
I found this book a little hard to get into at first. I wish Mary Norton could have gotten to the plot line quicker. I like to read about how they survived and what they used to survive. Once I got into the main part of the book, I could not stop easily. It was suspensful. I wonder if Mary Norton will allow us to be introduced to other borrowers and further the story line with Arrietty, Homily and Pod. I like these characters and want to find out what will happen to them. I guess I will have to continue and read the rest of this series. Maybe you will hear from me in a review of The Borrowers Afloat.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Two in a Classic Series, January 24, 2006

By 

K. J. Lambert (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Borrowers Afield (Paperback)

Long before there were Littles or anyone shrunk their children, Mary Norton had written this warm and wonderful series about a race of tiny people who live hidden in quiet country houses and "borrow" their livings from the human inhabitants. Their lives depend on remaining unseen and unsuspected.

But little Arietty Clock, who lives with her parents (Pod and Homily) is a naturally curious girl and lonely besides. When, on her very first trip out to Borrow ("The Borrowers," 1952), she is "seen" by a little human boy, she becomes friends with him and sets off a chain of events that will threaten her family's very existence -- and make staying in their home beneath the kitchen floorboards impossible.

In this second tale (1955), Pod, Homily, and Arietty set off across country, searching for long-lost relatives in the hopes of finding a new home and a new life. Despite the dangers (owls, badgers, insects, etc.), Arietty loves the freedom of living outdoors in the sunshine and fresh air. They set up housekeeping in an old boot and soon meet Spiller, a half-wild huntsman Borrower, who has the knack of showing up in the very nick of time to provide food, news -- and help. But they are reminded of their vulnerability when the gypsy Mild Eye finds and traps them. Pod and Homily, having no other option, must go against all of their instincts in order to survive....

With her "Borrowers" series, Mary Norton accomplished what few writers are able to do: she created a group of characters that become real through her words; and a fantasy world that is so realistic that readers young and old will be lost in it, and will look at their own world differently forever after. Though each stands alone, the first four tales read as fluidly as if they are all parts of one larger book -- indeed, they have been published as a single volume in the past -- and can be read consecutively without excessive and tiresome rehashing of the previous plots.

The books are billed by booksellers as written for 8-10 year olds, but they are ideal for reading aloud to younger children; and adults too will enjoy the sheer fun they contain. I first read them when I was ten -- long before "Avenged" was written and answered my longstanding questions about the Borrowers' fate. All five books remain in my reading cycle, to be reread every few years in their entirety. By stages funny, thrilling, and poignant, these lovely books will capture your imagination and keep you turning pages all the way to the end.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More wonderful Borrowers, August 14, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Borrowers Afield (Hardcover)

In this sequel to The Borrowers, the Clocks, having lost their home, must now set up a new life in a lost boot. Arrietty finds the outdoors exhilarating, while Homily finds it dangerous and extremely dirty. The Clocks know that there must be other Borrowers somewhere, but where are they, and how will they find them in such a big, wide world?

As with the last book, this one contains a charming story that is well accompanied by illustrations that add a lot to the simple words. These books are considered children's classics, and it's easy to see why. My children loved this book, and yours will, too.