Meet "The Borrowers" - little people who live under the floorboards.

Ever wonder what happens to those buttons, socks and other small items that disappear in your household? What about the occasional item that you remember placing on the table and now it is gone? Maybe, these items have been “borrowed” by little people living under your home. The Clock family is a miniature species of humans who live under the clock and kitchen floor boards in Great Aunt Sophy’s house. Arrietty, their only child dreams of the day she can escape the confines beneath the floorboards and run free in the garden. Her parents Pod and Homily are all that remain of the “borrowers” in the household; all others have emigrated elsewhere after being “seen” by a “human bean.” Homily’s greed for material possessions causes Pod to be discovered by a young boy living in the house. Will the Clock’s living quarters under the house be discovered? Will they have to immigrate to a new location?

The 50th anniversary edition of this children’s classic includes original artwork by Mary Norton on the book cover, Stanley’s original illustrations and Norton’s explanation of her inspiration.  Norton won the Carnegie Medal for her original tale, originally published in 1952. The story is just as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. The initial pace is a bit slow for today’s children who prefer more action and less description of home furnishings. However, at the time, the idea of little people living in a household and “borrowing” all those items that mysteriously disappear was an original idea. Many current fantasy authors have “borrowed” the idea of little people and placed them into their own stories such as the fairies and brownies that reside in Mull’s Fablehaven and Black’s Spiderwick Chronicles. This title makes an excellent read-aloud chapter book for writer’s workshop sessions. Grades 3-5.

Norton, Mary. (2003). The Borrowers (50th Anniversary ed.). Illustrated by Diana Stanley. Orlando, FL:  Harcourt. 
ISBN: 0152049282
Cover art link from ALISCat - a catalog of public libraries in Nassau County, NY.