Homily in her kitchen, by Diana Stanley, 1952, for 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton
Looking at dolls' house furniture in Hobbycraft recently reminded me of Mary Norton's The Borrowers, the story of tiny people who live unseen in human dwellings, 'borrowing' what they need to construct their homes from us. It was a favourite when I was small, and I decided it was time to read it again!
I love reading about how the inventive Clock family - Pod, Homily and Arrietty - put their 'borrowings' to good use - sitting on cotton reels (Sylko rather than Gutermann I assume, unless they want bar stools...), papering their walls with scraps of old letters, carpeting their rooms with red blotting paper, simmering soup over a matchstick fire in a silver thimble.
And the illustations are wonderful too - the work of an artist called Diana Stanley. I tried to find out a bit more about her...
I've found some of her full-colour cover illustrations for The Borrowers and The Borrowers Afield on Flickr, and this cover picture for The Borrowers, which is the one I remember having. There's also a cover she did for Worzel Gummidge. She also coloured some of Tenniel's illustrations for a 1954 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
Seven Stories, the centre for children's books in Newcastle upon Tyne, has a collection of Diana Stanley drawings, watercolours, tracings & correspondence in its archive; and The Willis Museum in Basingstoke is showing an exhibition of Diana Stanley's work this spring, as she was a local. It's free and runs from 26 April to 16 May 2009.
* SONG OF THE DAY: The New Seekers - Beg, Steal Or Borrow *
The Clock family having tea, by Diana Stanley, 1952, for 'The Borrowers' by Mary Norton
Recent Comments