Children’s Book Club: “The Borrowers”

Are your kids collectors? Do they love little things? Then this book club is for you! Join us as we immerse ourselves into the world of “The Borrowers.”

Delivering a delightful experience for our families, this book proved to be an entertaining read that provided great activities to incorporate into our book club.

While the content caters more to advanced readers, we made sure to include our young readers by reading aloud and involving them in the various engaging educational activities.

Mary Norton’s writing style in this book is written in a more formal and historical language that has a broader vocabulary. This provides a great opportunity to expand vocabulary and comprehension, especially for older readers. To help with comprehension for our younger readers, we introduced and explained new words while we read, but once we felt our kids began to feel overwhelmed with new vocabulary we started to replace unknown words with synonyms they are already familiar with.

Another helpful strategy to improve comprehension is creating visual aids. Consider drawing a picture of the house featured in the story as you read. This visual reference not only enhances comprehension but also makes it more engaging, allowing both you and your young reader to accompany the Borrowers on their journey through the house.

Book clubs promote literacy and offer an immersive reading experience. Our goal is to make reading enjoyable to all, so we’ve created a complete package to support you throughout the journey! Our book club includes an outline, invitations, comprehension questions, and activities that correlate with each specific book.

“The Borrowers” book captivated us with adventure and a tale of a family that is full of creativity and fun! As we step into the magical realm of miniature beings, where everyday items become extraordinary treasures; we embark on another literary journey.

“The Borrowers” by Mary Norton is a classic children’s fantasy novel about a family of tiny people called Borrowers who live secretly in human homes and “borrow” small items to survive. The story follows the adventures of the Clock family, particularly their daughter Arrietty, as they navigate the challenges of living unnoticed in a world much larger than their own. When their existence is threatened, they must find a way to survive and maintain their way of life. The novel explores themes of friendship, bravery, and the power of imagination.

“The Borrowers” book club packet includes all you need to organize a remarkable gathering full of family-friendly activities. It contains invitations, a recommended schedule, immersive activities, and comprehension questions; guaranteeing smooth planning and execution. Our group includes readers of all ages, from preschoolers to teenagers.

For cousins, friends, or even a classroom setting, our book club has everything you need for you to host the perfect book club!

During our book club, we invited readers to design and paint their very own “borrowers.”  We have created a planning sheet to make this easy to incorporate into your book club.

Each child received two peg dolls, along with a planning sheet to draw out their unique and imaginative designs before painting them. Our kids’ excitement was evident as they personalized their tiny borrowers, giving them each a distinctive personality. This was a great way to tie the text-to-world as the kids could imagine how small the Borrowers actually would be!

Part of our miniature world exploration, we savored delicious tiny snacks. We made bite-sized pancakes and served them on button plates. The kids enjoyed experiencing a world where even the food is miniature. 

Some other ideas of tiny food you could make are: mini meatballs, bottle cap pies, soup served in tiny bowls, or mini eggs. You can also search tiny foods on YouTube for more ideas. If you want to go with an even simpler idea, you could give your guests a pea, a cranberry, and a cheerio. 

Engaging the children in a playful yet educational activity, we initiated a scavenger hunt, challenging them to find the components for their own tiny inventions. We have a scavenger hunt list for the readers to find all of their needs for inventions on their blueprints! 

With a playful twist on the classic red-light-green-light game, the hunt set the stage for a thrilling adventure as the little borrowers searched for their ‘treasures.’ Our host said, “Gather and Seen” instead of “Red Light, Green Light.” If a Borrower was caught borrowing an item, they had to put it back.

After you finish your game, give your borrowers time to take the treasures they found and turn them into inventions! Be sure to use the blueprints to know exactly how to use all of the borrowed stuff.

If you’re considering hosting your own “Borrowers” themed book club, these activities are sure to ignite the imagination of the readers and provide a creative reading experience of a miniature world bursting with creativity and wonder.