Mary Norton

English author Mary Norton was the author of two children's literature classics: the Borrowers series and Bed Knob and Broomstick, which inspired the (...sigh) Disney film of the same name. Norton--a descendant of Edmund Spenser, the author of the The Faerie Queene--wrote her first two stories, The Magic Bed-Knob and Bonfires and Broomsticks, with the prosaic but sensible goal of putting food on the table during World War II. The two stories were eventually revised and combined to become Bed-Knob and Broomstick, which was sold to Disney for a sum that could charitably be described as "measly". While Bed-Knob and Broomstick is still an entertaining story, Norton's Borrowers series will undoubtedly have a longer shelf life. The Borrowers is a story about a family of tiny people who live under the floors of an English country house, sneaking out to "borrow" whatever they need from the few humans that live there. The story works as an effective metaphor for what the English experienced during the Blitz--the fear of discovery, the need to hide one's home--but it's also a terrifically entertaining fantasy.

Aftertaste:
Well, the movie, obviously. And The Borrowers Avenged is a totally cheesy title.

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Indian in the Cupboard series, by Lynne Reid Banks