Borrowers

We have this edition [b:The Borrowers 348573 The Borrowers (The Borrowers, #1) Mary Norton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308945559l/348573.SX50.jpg 802336] in paperback and [b:The Borrowers 2176736 The Borrowers (The Borrowers #1) Mary Norton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327893422l/2176736.SY75.jpg 802336] is also on the shelf as my daughter cannot decide which cover image she likes better. The later is mass market paperback vs. the standard paperback of the former. We have also been known to borrow it via Libby to read on the Kindle. This is a current, in progress read-aloud for the 2019-2010 read aloud year. [bc:The Borrowers 348573 The Borrowers (The Borrowers, #1) Mary Norton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308945559l/348573.SX50.jpg 802336][bc:The Borrowers 2176736 The Borrowers (The Borrowers #1) Mary Norton https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327893422l/2176736.SY75.jpg 802336]

I remember reading this when I was a little girl. I was captivated. Little people living in your house? Who wouldn't love that?

This read was just as good. I kept thinking that this should be a must-read for kids, and that more teachers should choose this for their read aloud book after lunch. It's the story of the people who call themselves Borrowers, and they exist by borrowing things from the human people in the house. It's delightfully fun.

Fascinating. Definitely read this too late to get the same enjoyment as a child would. Instead I kept getting swept up in possible themes: downsides of materialism; the perspective we're stuck in when we have limited experience of the world, and know only what family/community members tell us; the 1950s publishing date and the house wife who seems obsessed with making a pleasant home and terrified of the outside world- the only respectable option available to her?
Illustration style also uniquely disconcerting, the sketched lines go through objects, rather than halting to suggest when perspective would block view of a foot behind a table or pocket watch  beneath a foot as seen on the cover. It's done consistently enough that it seems a purposeful choice, rather than an unedited early draft mistake, it does add to the pleasantly cluttered look, if you don't look too close.