Her 1952 work The Borrowers, winner of the distinguished Carnegie Medal, quickly assumed status as a classic. Eliot called 'tradition and the individual talent.' She combined elements of her own experiences, transformed to meet the needs of her fantasies, with recognizable aspects of genres popular in British children's fiction in the first half of the 20th century. From the time of the appearance of her first novel, The Magic Bed-Knob: or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons (1943), Norton demonstrated a superb fusion of what T.S. by Pauline Baynes, Kestrel, 1982).Īlthough she wrote only eight novels in a career that extended from 1943 to 1982, Mary Norton is considered one of the major mid-century British children's authors. The 'Borrowers' series, all illustrated by Diana Stanley to 1971 unless otherwise noted: The Borrowers (Dent, 1952) The Borrowers Afield (Dent, 1955) The Borrowers Afloat (Dent, 1959) The Borrowers Aloft (Dent, 1961) The Borrowers Omnibus (Dent, 1966) Poor Stainless: A New Story about the Borrowers (Dent, 1971) The Adventures of the Borrowers (4 vols., Harcourt, 1975) The Borrowers Avenged (illus. by Erik Blegvad, Harcourt, 1957) Are All the Giants Dead? (illus. of The Magic Bed-Knob and Bonfires and Broomsticks, illus.

by Mary Adshead, Dent, 1947) Bed-Knob and Broomstick (rev. by Joan Kiddell-Monroe, Dent, 1945) Bonfires and Broomsticks (illus. Awards:Ĭarnegie Medal (1952) and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1960), both for The Borrowers. Born Mary Pearson on December 10, 1903, in London, England died on Augdaughter of Reginald Spenser Pearson (a physician) and Mary Savile (Hughes) Pearson attended convent schools in England married Robert Charles Norton (a shipping magnate, on Septem(died) married Lionel Bonsey, on Apchildren: Ann Mary, Robert George, Guy, Caroline.Īctress with the Old Vic Theatre Company, London, England (1925–26) actress in London (1943–45) served two years with the British War Office in England, and two years with the British Purchasing Commission in New York, during World War II. English author who is known for her 'Borrowers' series.

The Borrowers by Mary Norton