In this first book in a series of five, The Borrowers introduces us to a world of tiny little people who live among humans, living off of materials and food that they “borrow” from the human “beans” they live around. Some being innies and some outies, the first book talks about the Clock family, living under the floorboards of a house in which lives a young, imaginative boy. Members of the family deemed official borrowers must be extremely cautious, never to be seen or suspected of. But when young Arrietty is seen by the boy, the Clock family’s world is turned upside down.
Reading this book got me to thinking about the nature of children’s books throughout the years. While I have been alive only a meager twenty-five years, I do have enough experience reading and working in a library to know that imaginative, sometimes off-the-wall ideas and situations are attractive to children and most often the subject of the books that they prefer. Reading about little people that live underneath the floor of their room gets their little minds to thinking about considering the world around them and their part in it. Even though there are obviously not little people living in our houses, it is still necessary for children to think outside of the box, developing their minds and hearts outside of what they can just touch and see themselves.
As I have been reading through the Top 100 Children’s Books list, I have come across so many imaginative books and it thrills my heart that they are considered to be among the best. Listed below are a few that I would recommend:
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Anything by Roald Dahl
The Borrowers
by Mary Norton
Originally published in 1953
Tif
November 20, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I loved these books as a child and recently re-read the first to my daughter when she was baby and loved it just as much the second time around!!