The Borrowers Afield is the second book in the Borrowers series by Mary Norton and continues both the story of the Clock family and the story of young Kate and Mrs. May. It picks up about a year after Mrs. May first told Kate about the borrowers when Mrs. May inherits some property from her great-aunt Sophy that borders the house where the borrowers used to live. When they go to visit the property Kate befriends Tom Goodenough who, when he was young, had been friends with the Clock family after they had escaped from Great-Aunt Sophy’s house. He explains the next part of their adventures. After they escaped Homily, Pod, and Arietty had managed to follow the pipeline and hedges to the field where they believed their cousins, the Hendrearys, lived in a badger set. While trying to find their cousins they ended up instead trying to find a way of living in the wild as best they can. Stumbling upon an old boot they managed to turn it into a bit of a house that was buried in part of the hedge. However, they also quickly discovered they weren’t completely alone out there as Arietty managed to meet young Spiller, a borrower who lived alone and in the wild.
I rather enjoyed this book as it was a good addition to the story, both stories actually. It picked up where the previous one had left off but also had continued the theme of it being a retelling of a retelling which also kept up the idea of being uncertain about how true and accurate the story actually was. There was a bit more humor in this one at times as we read about the adventures of Homily, Pod, and Arietty as they deal with the wild outdoors, something none of them had previous experience with. They had a bit of a learning curve they had to deal with but they have seemed to have done pretty good. With how short the first book was I feel like we didn’t get to know them as well as I would have liked but we get to see some nice added depth and development to the characters here which was nice. They feel more well-rounded and fleshed out than they were previously. The plot was fairly simple overall and had very little complexity but if you keep in mind this was aimed at younger readers than this makes sense actually. Overall, a nice addition to the series that I am happy to give four out of five stars.
This was a good example of a kids fantasy story and one that I am happy to recommend to kids who enjoy either fantasy or a good adventure as this is a bit of both. I would recommend they read the first book prior to reading this one as it does provide a good bit of background to help fill in things. It is a good book to while away an afternoon though, something I know I did with this series when I was younger. Technically, this book is probably best suited for younger readers but I would also feel comfortable saying that readers of probably any age would enjoy it if it sounds interesting. There is very little content that would potentially be problematic for any readers so my ultimate recommendation is if it sounds interesting than you should consider trying it. If you do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.