Customer Reviews

Borrowers Afield (Pennant Books)

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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.

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.

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.

This is Mary Norton's second book in The Borrowers series. Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock have been forced to flee from their home under the kitchen in Firbank Hall and have taken refuge in the countryside while they search for their relatives who have gone on before them. Mary Norton continues to write beautifully, this time about the English countryside. The borrowers have to struggle to survive, and adapt themselves to their new surroundings in their own clever and ingenious manner. New characters, both borrower and "human bean" appear. At the end the story appears to be resolved, but with questions that will ultimately and happily lead to a third story.

Its a pity that Norton fouond it necessary to "frame" her story with accounts of modern human beans and how they learned about the borrowers, but those segments pass quickly and do not intrude too much on the main story.

This series has been popular for many years and my 12 year old daughter loves it. Amazon has offered the whole series of paperbacks for a reasonable price.

When young Kate and Mrs. May return to Firbank Hall--where the elderly woman will take up residence in the old game keeper's cottage--Kate revels in the nostalgia which she'd heard in great detail about the Borrowers, a race of miniature beings in whom she scarcely dares believe. While alone with Tom Goodenough, "the biggest liar in two counties," as per his local reputation, she easily worms out the whole story from the obliging, trusting fellow. As proof of his truthful testimony he produces a prized possession: Arietty's Diary, in which she made brief entries about her life in the fields when the family fled the big house in terror for their lives, after having been Discovered.

The Clock family--Pod, Homily and teenage Arietty--must now try to live outside; also they desperately seek Pod's brother's family--about whom frightening rumors have long circulated. Taking up temporary residence in a gentleman's boot they plan for winter; then Arietty makes the acquaintance of Spiller, a field-wise Borrower lad who lives a solitary but agreeable life. He even borrows--it's not called Stealing from mere human beings--from trashy gypsies camped nearby.

Ultimately the entire family is captured in Mild Eye's caravan, which includes an alert cat. Can a mere boy (with or without a ferret) rescue them from certain caged prison and sideshow display? Even if he can, how will they survive the coming winter or find the vanished Hendreary family? This sequel to THE BORROWERS is utterly delightful--as charming and captivating as when it was first published. For kids of all ages!

fun to read aloud to your children, full of imagery, a continuation of Mary Norton's "The Borrowers"

Do yourself and your child a favor and get all the delightful books in this series about the charming tiny people who live under the stove in the old kitchen. Wonderful for reading aloud.

It is kind of hard to get through the first chapters, but once we start reading about the Borrowers themselves the book takes flight! I read the Borrowers (first book) and was so glad to hear there was a sequel. I liked this book a lot because the outdoors were so exciting and beautiful to Arietty. We also read about another notable borrower - Spiller. As I read this book I kept thinking how resourceful Borrowers are and how they make the best out of any situation. They could be considered role models. I'm off to get "the Borrowers Aloft" Happy reading.

For all those who loved the original Borrowers, this is thestory of what happened to the Clock family after being driven fromtheir home. In many ways, it is an "equal, not a sequel."