Rating: Not for me

Reading Level: Early Elementary

Thanks to my dear friend Rachel for requesting a review of Mary Norton’s 1953 classic!

It would be rather mysterious and exciting to have tiny people living in your home, stealing (“borrowing”) tiny bits of food, textiles and other minuscule odds and ends! The Borrowers creatively repurpose these items to make their homes more comfortable and decorated.

Possible Concerns:

  • Fairies. References to fairies: the main character tells a boy very matter-of-factly that her mother has seen a fairy. They talk about whether fairies exist & she is very convinced.
  • Stealing. Stealing is a cultural norm referred to as “borrowing.”
  • Alcohol. The old woman who owns the home regularly drinks alcohol and that is when the father Borrower feels comfortable being “seen” and chatting with her. She thinks he is out of her imagination and attributes it to the drink. When the housekeeper has a sighting and is unsettled by it, the old woman suggests the housekeeper just cork the bottle to make them go away.
  • Disobedience/deceit. The daughter Borrower deceives her mother and disobeys her protective parents so she can experience the world outside their home and do what she thinks needs to be done to save the Borrower race. Unfortunately this kind of tension between parents and children is everywhere in children’s books and difficult to avoid.
  • Violence/Bitterness. When the housekeeper sees the borrowers and realizes they’re the source of all the missing items she’s been accusing maids of stealing, she gets bitterly upset, tells the little boy who helps them he is a rotten thief, and calls an exterminator to use poison gas to get rid of them.
  • Requires Perseverance: Initially, I had a hard time getting into this one. The lengthy descriptions of the home and the lifestyle involved references to lots of Victorian objects and pre-1950’s culture that I couldn’t decipher. So if your reader has minimal perseverance, little knowledge of objects from our grandparents’ era, or struggles to get excited about books, they many need some help getting through the first few chapters.

This isn’t really a personal favorite of mine, but if it were gifted to me or inherited from another family, I would perhaps let it stay in my house. I think the story stokes the imagination and I like the creativity the borrowers have repurposing acorns for cups, postage stamps for artwork, etc. However, Rachel just reminded me that time is precious, and I’m not really sure this one is worth the time.

*Series disclaimer: I haven’t yet read the rest of the books in the series so can’t speak to what issues are in those.

You can send me requests for reviews at: ngeorgiejustice@gmail.com.