Mary Norton

Kathleen Mary Norton (née Pearson; 10 December 1903 – 29 August 1992), known professionally as Mary Norton, was an English writer of children's books.

She married Robert Charles Norton on 4 September 1926 and had four children, two boys and two girls; her son, also named Robert Norton, became a printer and Microsoft executive.

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.

A picture book version of her first story appeared in the US as The Magic Bed-Knob (1943), with color illustrations by Waldo Peirce.

In the UK the first four Borrowers novels were illustrated by Diana Stanley and The Borrowers Avenged was illustrated by Pauline Baynes.

In the U.S. all five novels were illustrated by Joe and Beth Krush.

They have also been illustrated by Ilon Wikland.

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.

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.

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.

Its sequel Bonfires and Broomsticks followed two years later and they were re-issued jointly as Bed-Knob and Broomstick in 1957.

Her second husband was Lionel Bonsey, whom she married in 1970.

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.

Kathleen Mary Pearson was the daughter of a physician and grew up 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.

The stories became the basis for the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

During her latter years Norton lived with her husband in the village of Hartland in Devon.

Norton's novels The Magic Bedknob; 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.

She died of a stroke in Bideford, Devon, England, on 29 August 1992.

The first edition hardcover books were published in Britain by J. M. Dent.

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.