I do remember I share the same peculiar fantasy about little people, scavenging and gathering teeny-tiny stuff around our home or the garden. That was when I was a little, I would practically convinced myself for having the size of thumbelina's friends.

But unlike Thumbelina, Arrietty has a family. Which is totally opposite from a lonely woman to a young 14 year old girl who was bore enough to dare talked with a human bean, to the point of defying the Borrower's tradition. .

The Borrower's were like the duwende in my hometown folklore. They were tiny people like drawves that dwells in a soil mound or a punso that's why it's known for nuno-sa-punso. But unlike the Borrowers of the western European stories, duwende in my native's origin used magic to put a cursed upon people who mistreated them or disrespected their turfs. That's why we say tabi-tabi po before entering a unknown area or a zone that we believed these mythical creatures reside to avoid 'mabuyagan' or means, being cursed.

I do remember how I considered that fern's rolled sprouts became cabbages, anthurium fruits became bread jams, iring-iring turned-into wild blackberries, agay-ay's manure makes as a fine flour. Then Snackee freebie toys became the furniture, utensils, decorations, etc. anything that we can find valuable to tiny people. That is how I grew fond with small stuff, because if your small, everything seems in proportions. You get enough food throughout the year. Even the slice of bread could be a 365 days worth of consumption and not even a morsel could be wasted--if we don't apply the concept of expiration. Useless stuff to men became a millions of worth to this people. Their different viewpoints of the world were about to exposed. I often wonder what's it really like to experience and witnessed the small wonders of the earth, even the simple small details cannot be miss out!

Arrietty Clock was a 14 year old Borrower of the family. She was bored and tedious enough being keep inside from their secret abode when finally, his father Pod decided to introduced her to their world of borrowing--by the means of it, going upstairs where human bean dwells and started to look for useful materials that a human doesn't bat an eye if it's gone.

I was first introduced by a studio ghibli movie entitled The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) where it came from the inspiration of this book itself. The setting was highly different from the film since they were using japanese characters by narrating the story. But the literature essence, themes, dramatic concept, including the idea was still noticeable and it's similarities. Meanwhile another movie in major motion pictures The Borrower's (1997) was released and gain multiple success in the market. It was a surreal feeling when I started to imagined, what if someone was also living under our floors and pipes? I begin to indulged myself with such whimsical thoughts. The way Mary Norton narrates the book truly begs to be shared and the characters were truly loveable as well.

Especially Pod and Homily, both spouse's and parent to Arrietty have nurtured their kid, grown with adventure and moral ethics by undergoing the same teaching of their traditions. It was a wild and sophisticated adventure they've had shared together and I hope I could catch another glimpse on their journey as they've been embarking another chapter of their small lives. 

And I'd never meet Uncle Heandery and Egglentina but they seems to be pretty well-decent characters. Including Spiller whom I'd expected to be dashingly-well with valour and knightly stature. 

The boy whose name seems didn't mention in the book was like a spitting image of a pitiful kid who dreams awake just like me. 

And to Mrs. Driver, this is all I could to say for a word of advice; do pick someone with your own size, will yah?