Occupation Writer Role Author Name Mary Norton | Nationality British Awards Carnegie Medal | |
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Born Kathleen Mary Pearson
10 December 1903
London, England, UK ( 1903-12-10 ) Genre Children's fantasy novels Notable works The Borrowers series
The Magic Bed Knob
Bonfires and Broomsticks Died August 29, 1992, Bideford, United Kingdom Movies Arrietty, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Borrowers Books The Borrowers, The Borrowers Afield, The Borrowers Afloat, The Borrowers Aloft, The Borrowers Avenged Similar People Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Peter Hewitt, Robert Stevenson, Hayao Miyazaki, Ralph Wright | ||
Notable awards Carnegie Medal
1952 | ||
Mary Norton, or Kathleen Mary Norton née Pearson (10 December 1903 – 29 August 1992), was an English author of children's books. She is best known for The Borrowers series of low fantasy novels (1952 to 1982), which is named after its first book and, in turn, the tiny people who live secretly in the midst of contemporary human civilisation.
Contents
Norton won the 1952 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising The Borrowers as the year's outstanding children's book by a British author. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal in 2007 it was named one of the top ten winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Norton's novels The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons and Bonfires and Broomsticks were adapted into the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Life
Kathleen Mary Pearson was the daughter of a physician and was raised in a Georgian house at the end of the High Street in Leighton Buzzard. The house now forms part of Leighton Middle School, known within the school as The Old House, and was reportedly the setting of her novel The Borrowers. She married Robert Charles Norton on 4 September 1927 and had four children, two boys and two girls; her son Robert became a printer and consultant for Microsoft. Her second husband was Lionel Bonsey, whom she married in 1970. She began working for the War Office in 1940 before the family moved temporarily to the United States. She began writing while working for the British Purchasing Commission in New York City during the Second World War. Her first book was The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons, published by J. M. Dent in 1945. Its sequel Bonfires and Broomsticks followed two years later and they were re-issued jointly as Bed-Knob and Broomstick in 1957. The stories became the basis for the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Norton died of a stroke in Bideford, Devon, England on 29 August 1992.
Works
All of these books save for The Borrowers Avenged were originally published by J. M. Dent in hardcover editions.
The first omnibus edition was Bed-Knob and Broomstick (1957), illustrated by Erik Blegvad; later Bedknobs and Broomsticks after the Disney film (see adaptations).
The Borrowers novels have been illustrated by Diana Stanley and Ilon Wikland.
Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
Norton's novels The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons and Bonfires and Broomsticks were adapted into the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, starring Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson.
There have been several screen adaptations of The Borrowers:
There have also been numerous theatrical adaptations of The Borrowers.