I liked this book a lot. I like to read about how resourceful the Borrowers are when they use stuff humans don't need or misplace. It had really nice pictures, too. I recommend this book to kids five years and older.

In this, the fourth book in the Borrowers series (after The Borrowers, The Borrowers Afield and The Borrowers Afloat), the Clocks have moved into Little Fordham, and are starting their new life. Unfortunately, unknown to them, the greedy Mr. Platter has built a rival model village. Having seen the Borrowers, he kidnaps them to add them to his own model. How can such small people escape from a prison built by such huge human "beans"?

Ah, Mary Norton (1903-92) was a genius! Her Borrower stories are an excellent combination of suspenseful adventure and heartwarming drama. My children and I love this book, and highly recommend it to you!

As a child in the 1950's, I read the original Borrowers in 4th grade. I read and re-read the one in the school library, til school closed for the summer. As luck would have it, I found the book and it's subsequent additions that summer in a book store. They were the only thing I ever BEGGED my mother to buy me. I took home The Borowers, The Borrowers Afield, and The Borrowers Afloat, and I still know parts of them by heart. When I was 18, the Borrowers Aloft came out, and my mother sent it to me at college. I was 36 when the Avenged came out, and I RAN to the bookstore. The stories are as fresh today as the first time I read them. I'm now in my 50's, and I can't imagine a life without Homily, Pod and Arriety Clock. Homily who is courageous, even though she'd rather not be. Pod, who is a simple man, taking care of his family. And Arriety, ready for life, ready for adventure, a young Victorian Feminist, if there ever was one. She taught me that a girl could be anything she wanted to be. They bravely faced a daunting world, and they're only 6 inches tall. I now own well over a thousand books, and really believe that it was this small family that lead me to my love of reading.

This book is about a very tiny family who is smoked out of their house under the floorboards of an old England home. They are forced to move to the fields and go on a journey to their relatives house. along the way they find a boot to live in and a tree stump for shelter. They meet a boy named Spiller who helps them out a little. In 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.

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."

Every family has certain traditions which are passed down lovingly from generation to generation. For our family, THE BORROWERS is one such tradition. My mother first enjoyed this book as a young girl in the 1950's, reading away rainy winter afternoons in the hayloft. In the 1970's she shared this book, as well as it's sequels, THE BORROWERS AFIELD, THE BORROWERS AFLOAT,and THE BORROWERS ALOFT, with me. I loved it so much I spent hours building miniature villages out of odds and ends just in case any Borrowers should decide to move in with me. Every time someone in our house lost some small item like a pin or a key we'd say, "The Borrowers took it!" Now, with the premier of the movie version, a third generation of our family has had the opportunity to meet the tiny Clock family. My son and I enjoyed the movie so much we rushed right out and bought a copy of the book to read together. It was wonderful to see him transported to that same exciting miniature world I had enjoyed as a child. He was enthralled as Arietty and the human boy encountered one mishap after another in their quest to keep the Borrowers home a secret from unfriendly adults. Traditions are the glue which bonds the generations together in a family. Pick up a copy of this timeless classic and start a family tradition with your child today!

The Borrowers is a book for losers. Not the modern kind of loser, but people like me who are always losing stamps and pins and pens. The book tells the story of Arrietty Clock and her parents, tiny people who live beneath the floor of an old house and `borrow' the things they need from the humans who live in the house above. A postage stamp becomes a painting for their wall, pins become knitting needles. Even Arrietty's parents' names - Pod and Homily - are borrowed.

Life has never been easy for the borrowers, but now times are changing for the worse. The Sink family in the scullery, the Broom Cupboards, the Rain-Pipes and even Uncle Hendreary and his family have emigrated. Only the Clock family remain, living in fear of Mrs Driver, the housekeeper upstairs. When Pod comes home and says that a boy is living upstairs and that the boy has `seen' him, Pod's wife, Homily, is thrown into panic.

Arrietty, however, is intrigued. While her parents cling to the dubious safety of the life they know, Arrietty wonders about the world outside and dreams of adventure. She persuades her reluctant parents to let her accompany her father on his borrowing expeditions. On her first venture out, she meets the boy upstairs. A dangerous friendship develops. Meanwhile, Mrs Driver stalks the borrowers, full of the sort of cruelty Roald Dahl would have been proud to create. It is only with the boy's help that Arrietty and her parents narrowly escape Mrs Driver's attempts to destroy them. At the end of the book, Arrietty faces the dangerous adventure of emigration.

Like all great books for the young, The Borrowers can be read as an enthralling story of adventure, but also contains many layers of meaning. Mary Norton's creation of the tiny race of borrowers is an imaginative achievement in itself, but she does not stop there. She gives poignance to her tale by telling it through the voice of the boy's sister, now an old lady, who tells us at the start that her brother has long since grown up and died a `hero's de!ath' on the North-West frontier. The old lady seems to believe her brother's tale of the borrowers, and yet at the end of the book she provides evidence to suggest that the borrowers may have been nothing but a product of her brother's imagination. The reader is left wondering about reality and truth. On another level, in the relationship between the borrowers and the human world, parallels with the misunderstandings and confusions which occur between different cultures can be discerned. The uncertainties the borrowers face and their final exile mirror the plight of our world's increasing number of displaced people. Long after the book is finished, the characters and the questions their story raises reverberate around the mind. The Borrowers is a book which will fascinate, intrigue and entertain.

Unknown to the humans who seem to rule the Earth, they actually share the world with a race of little people, the Borrowers. Living beneath the floorboards, and anywhere else they can remain unseen, the Borrowers live by "borrowing" what they need from the "human beans." This is the story of one family (Pod, Homily and Arrietty Clock), their life in a spacious home, their borrowing, and their efforts to stay unseen. But Arrietty wants to see what else there is to life, and she is going to see it!

This is such a wonderful book. The story is charming, with the illustrations showing a realistic (if tiny) family. My children loved this story, and even have developed some games based on the story. If you have children, then please consider buying this book for them.

We use this as the main text in my US History AP course. It's a good, fairly comprehensive, yet easy to read text.

I used this textbook as a junior in high school and recently purchased a later edition. Although the wonderful charts plotting the states and electoral numbers of the Presidential elections are long gone it is still a great reference book on our nations history.

My students really enjoyed this textbook because it was so inclusive of all American heritages. It is up-to-date with current trends in American history and has a little bit of everything your students might be interested in.

One time I saw a movie it was called The Borrowers. I thought it might be a little bit like the book. I thought it would be about borrowers who were on the river in a teapot. The cover gave a large hint. Borrowers are tiny people only about six inches high. Borrowers can not live without people. A family of three borrowers are living inside of a cotige wall,then the owners suddenly move out. There is one place called Little Fordham where borrowers live so they set out to find it. There were some parts that were slow but it got better toward the end. If you like books with little people mabye you want try it?

In this book, "The borrowers afloat" the Clocks once again venture out of a their brand new (rundown) house. This is their 3rd house in the 3rd book. This book tells how they manage "afloat" to get away from the empty cotttage, and "SPECIAL" relatives. Will they get to their dream house?

In this, the third book in the Borrowers series (after The Borrowers, and The Borrowers Afield), the Clocks (Pod, Homily and Arrietty) find that they must leave the safety of their new house and venture forth once again into the great big world. Setting their sights on Little Fordham, a miniature model town, the Clocks follow young Spiller out. But the world is a dangerous place for someone as small as a Borrower, and their voyage is filled with excitement.

Once again, Marty Norton has produced a story that is a lot of fun. Containing both plenty of adventure with a heartwarming story. My children and I loved this story, and you and yours will too.

This is a short story of a young borrower, Stainless, who was asked to go 'borrow' a bit of parsley from the human beings. Borrowing a bit of parsley is a simple job for any borrower, even young ones. Maybe a 5-minute job. But little Stainless was gone for a whole day and night. His mother was very worried about his safety, so the borrower grandfathers, passed an order that all borrowers, no matter male or female (except the very young ones), form search parties to look for Stainless. You have to read the rest to find out what happened because if I go on with the review, you'll know what happened in the end as it is really a very short story. Happy reading!

While Arrietty and Homily sit and sew on a piece of cloth, Arrietty asks for a story. Homily reaches back and tells of an adventure from her younger days. When she was young, there was a mischievous boy Borrower named Stainless Knife Machines (a Borrower's last name is always drawn from where they live). When Stainless disappears one day, everyone goes looking for "poor Stainless."

Written in 1966, this book shows how Mary Norton might have gone on writing charming Borrower short stories. Ah, what might have been... Anyway, this short little story (32 pages, including illustrations) is quite interesting and fun to read. Please introduce your children to the Borrowers!

This book was undoubtedly not intended to be the last in the series, but unfortunately it was. The book left several very important characters at odds in the end it a disheartening way. If I had to do it over again, I would have stopped the series with The Borrower's Aloft. Other than this story, the rest of the series by Mary Norton was a delightful addition to our family's storytime.

This book was written in 1982 as an afterthought to the earlier books (The Borrowers (1952), The Borrowers Afield (1955), The Borrowers Afloat (1959), and Poor Stainless (1966)). This follows the Clocks (Pod, Homily and Arrietty) after their escape from the Platters. Having found their way to an old rectory, the Clocks realize that they will never really be safe.

This book is quite different from the earlier books. This story contains social commentary, as seen when the family meets Peregrine Overmantle, and the introduction of more fantastic elements, such as a household ghost. It's quite interesting to imagine where Mary Norton might have gone, had she had the time to write more Borrowers stories. Anyway, this is a great book, and well worth your time and money.

Just to set everyone straight, this book is NOT based on the campy, sellout movie "The Borrowers." The movie should be renounced by all true fans, as it is a badly done attempt at commercializing on Mary Norton's brilliant ideas. Anyway, "The Borrowers Avenged" was written more than ten years before the Borrowers movie. It continues the story of Pod, Homily, and Arrietty, as they finally settle into an old rectory. It raises important questions about the future--(who will Arrietty marry, Spiller or Peagreen? I tend to think Peagreen.), but as all good Norton stories, gives you room to decide for yourself.

This book may be the most exhaustive one ever written on the Salem witchcraft trials. I have read other books on the subject, but I found this one to be tough going. It is not a book for beginners. I have always wondered whether the girls were faking their seizure-like behavior, and I finally found the author's belief on the second to the last page. Author Norton believes the younger girls ages thirteen and under exhibited genuine fits for unknown causes. What about the physical causes such as bleeding and teeth marks, and what caused them? Did they injure themself? The author admits to not having an answer. Some of the older girls in their late teens and early twenties appear to have possibly taken part in collusion in their accusations of others. I guess if that is the case, and their victims were hanged for it, the girls could rightfully be accused of murder. I found parts of the book such as the trials of various ones tough going. The author has tied the witchcraft in Essex County, Massachusetts, to the Indian wars (King Philip's War and King William's War) in the area now known as Maine. If you haven't done any reading on this subject I would suggest you find one of several other books on Salem witchcraft that is available. This book would be suitable for those looking for a very detailed treatment of the subject. I based my rating of three stars on my interest level, but I'm sure those with a greater understanding of the subject would rate it higher.

Mary Beth Norton has managed to take an oft-examined event, the Salem Witchraft Crisis of 1692, and added a fresh perspective to it. In the Devil's Snare is a fascinating book. It is not as thrilling and easy to read as some other histories of the event (such as the re-released Francis Hill book) but looking at the conflict on the frontiers of the territories with the Indians and its impact on pushing the witchcraft crisis to greater heights will interest those who have read other accounts. The fit is not always perfect but it does give one much to consider. The book is well researched and of particular interest will be the gossip networks unearthed by the author showing how information was spread from distant counties. It's a small New England world after all. A fresh look at a horrific event and strongly recommended for anyone wishing to understand this event.

The author centers what is indubitably one of the most scholarly accounts I have yet read on the events in Salem on a new premise: That all the events were influenced by the Second Indian War and by the protagonists harrowing experiences during that conflict. Note that this doesn't exclude other causes, such as property disputes, envy, illicit affairs and the like that others have used in the past, and which are also mentioned in this book.

I don't know that I agree completely with what Norton is saying, although she does have several valid points. Either way, the book is a magnificent chronology and analysis (albeight colored by Norton's view) of one of the most puzzling events of our nation's early history. As an added bonus, her theory and her attempt at proof made her do a much better job of fitting in the events at Salem with what was happening in the rest of the New World at that time, as well as in England. It's certainly not casual reading, but it is a must read if you are interested in the subject.

This book is utterly AWFUL when it comes to comparing it with other academic histories. I would not recommend it to anyone, except as one of the worst histories written, EVER.

By Mary Beth Norton. Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996, hardcover 1996. Pp. ix, 496, appendix, abbreviations, notes, index....hardcover.)

From the time of the Pilgrims to present day, women have played more of a substantial role than they are commonly accredited for. In Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the forming of American Society, Mary Beth Norton parlays her idea that although woman did not have an independent role in the political arena of early American society there were many woman and groups of woman who knew the undisclosed sins of the community. This they used in the assumption of leadership roles among the communities.
Norton goes on to explain power inside the household as well as in the community. She connected Sir Robert Filmers' (The Filmerian view) and John Lockes' philosophies (the Lockean view) to both domestic life and the political structure and formation of early American society.
As you probably know, the practice of bearing children was most likely the primary focus of 17th century colonial woman. Lacking in birth control, a woman would go through a constant cycle of becoming pregnant and giving birth. Norton points out that these regular childbearing sessions excluded men from attending. It is very important to understand the role of the midwife. She could be the necessary one in keeping the woman and child alive during birth. She could, as well, expose any form of bastardization, premarital sex, adultery, and infanticide. The power of the midwives and the ignorance of men on the subject of childbearing gave way to many cases in which women could bend around the "man-made" laws.
It is probably demeaning these days to say that woman "gossip." Well, according to Norton, this did indeed go on during colonial times. The reader will discover the "gossip networks." Due to the fact that woman were separated from men in many social aspects led to these networks. Rumors of criminal activities would travel this way to the Colonial Magistrate and would very often result in punishment for the crime.
I found the two different philosophies on gender power to be very interesting. Should the most power come from the parent most represented, whichever that may be? This idea would bring more power to widows and present them with a greater role in the community. However, the people of this enlightened area would demand that the power of a woman's authority was inexistent outside the home.
Mary Beth Norton is a very accredited historian. This book gives remarkable incite to the power of woman in colonial times. Anyone interested in the social history of our country would enjoy this book and feel enriched after reading it. Many of the woman's roles discussed were unknown to me. Norton puts them across in a very intelligent and unquestionable way using many actual cases of the times to back up her theories.
This book, although written by a scholarly author, is not a difficult reading. Since it deals with many aspects of colonial life unknown to many people the readers interest should withstand through its entirety. Indeed, woman played an immense, although not formal or independent, role in the formation of our country as it is today.
-Charles Michael Farley-

Norton argues that during the mid to late 17th century, colonial American political authority was based on biblical interpretations which encouraged a unified, gender-power based authoritarian system centered on the role of the father as undisputed ruler of his household. The founders were operating in a "Filmerian system" in which the sources of authority in the state and family were identical.

However, this Filmerian system did create opportunities for women to wield some power. High-ranking widows were the rulers of their households and were deferred to by both males and females of lower ranks. Problems arose when these high-ranking widows failed to fall in with the male consensus, such as Anne Hutchinson.

In the Chesapeake region, the Filmerian system was much less successful than in New England because the Chesapeake settlers were predominantly single men. The family-based power system failed in this region because it had very few traditional family households. Although power remained gender-based in the Chesapeake region, it became more like a "Lockian system" in which power in the family was differentiated from political power.