The Borrowers Afloat (Puffin Books) (original: 1959; edição: 1992)

Being borrowers who quietly depend on the giant human beings around can be tough, including when the human beings pack up and move away, leaving nothing behind to...borrow. The little Clock family—Pod, Homily, and their teenaged daughter Arrietty—is thus uprooted once more to face a new adventure in The Borrowers Afloat by author Mary Norton.

While I first read Books One and Two of this series back in my childhood, this was my first time reading Book Three. I enjoy the old-fashioned style of these classic tales as well as the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the borrowers. (Spiller is the best!)

Though I'm not sure how much I might have appreciated it as a child, I also like how there's just enough conjecture and ambiguity from the human characters reflecting on these "past" stories of borrowers, leaving readers to decide how much to believe.

Or not.

Now, what I'm sure I wouldn't have known better about as a child are this book's uses of a term for a particular group of people—an old term that should fall out of use. Of course, you don't know until you know, and hey, these novels portray all the anti-borrower villains as horrid caricatures, not just the villains of one culture or another. Doesn't make the use of the old exonym okay, though.

Also, rather than a standalone adventure, it seems this story is mostly a bridge to connect the second and fourth books. Interludes that are just about traveling from A to B, rather than being about A and B themselves, tend not to be my favorites.

Even so, I'll be going on to see what else I didn't know as a child... ( )

The third in The Borrowers series of books, The Borrowers Afloat sees Pod, Homily and Arrietty living in blighted conditions with their relatives in a run-down cottage that is soon to be left empty because Tom, Arrietty's Human friend, is going to live with his uncle. The Borrower family then make the decision to set out for the much-spoken of Little Fordham, a model village that lies at the end of a dangerous river. With the help of Spiller and his broken kettle, the Borrowers flee their weasel-haunted home and take the journey downstream, where nothing but mad gypsies and the unknown await them.

I don't think I've ever read a Borrower book, even though I am well-versed in the story, which, as an English person, isn't quite as inappropriate and weird as it sounds. Borrowers are similar to Lilliputians in size but that is where the similarity ends. As you can gather from their name, they "borrow" items from the Humans whose homes they inhabit, always keeping out of the way as much as possible. Although technically the Borrowers are stealing, it's always harmless and they're very endearing towards those they "borrow" from. This particular story was interesting because it drove the imagery I had of the Borrowers out of my mind (homely, frightened, comfortable under the floorboards) and basically dumped myself and the Borrowers in the outside world, where birds and rivers threaten their lives at every turn.

It's a lovely children's story that is easily accessible to an adult, though it has a more British-vibe to it because of our history with it. There have been numerous television and film adaptations and the thought of tiny people living under our floorboards as if there were mice is so ingrained in to us it's almost part of our culture. ( )

This book continues the adventures of Pod, Homily, and Arrietty as they hide in nooks and crannies from the humans from whom they "borrow" everything they need. The family, along with their cousins, are horrified when they learn that the gamekeeper and his grandson are moving out; the Borrowers will have nothing to live on with no humans about! Pod decides it's time for the three of them to move out, but where to? The way out is impassable because of the grandson's pet ferret who is sniffing about the house, trying to get in. Somehow, as the cover art suggests, the three end up drifting down the river in a rusty tea kettle, but there are many more adventures to come before they find a place to settle down. This is an exciting book that keeps one wanting to read just one more chapter! It's hard to put down. I always enjoy reading of the creative uses the Borrowers find for the things they borrow from humans - even a half of a ping pong ball. ( )

Third in the Borrowers series; the Borrow family (Pod, Homily and Arriety) reach their relatives (Hendreary and Lupy) and their family living in a gamekeeper's cottage, but then move on in search of a miniature town called Little Fordham. As before, very well imagined, but somehow downbeat-- they are almost immediately unhappy with Hendray and Lupy, for example. ( )

Installment #3 of the Borrowers saga was, for my money, the strongest. Spiller comes into his own here, and he's quite the taciturn but romantic hero. Arrietty may possibly learn a thing or two in this novel,though it's arguable, as she continues with the talking to humans at every opportunity. Pod's a resourceful if staid old gentleman. Homily drives me mad with her panics and her flighty girly taking on. ( )