The Secret World of Arrietty Film Comic, Vol. 1 (1) Paperback – February 7, 2012

Basically, you can’t go wrong watching a Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli movie - and this film comic is everything that I hoped for! The pages are high quality and with bright colors. The story is absolutely complete and doesn’t miss a single scene from the film. I don’t want to review the film here or give spoilers, so just say this is the perfect gift for any anime lover - especially if the reader needs time away from screens and practice reading. This re-telling of an award winning children’s novel (The Borrowers, published originally in 1952 and written by Mary Norton) has been well treated and made accessible to modern readers. The only two things many readers might find confusing is that manga-style books are read from right to left - so many readers might be confused that they need to start at what they might consider the back of the book - and that sound effects from the movie are printed on the page in English (the language of the copy I bought). That’s really not a problem, though; the sound effects words don’t block the art. There’s even a “Character Introductions” section at the beginning of each volume so the reader can match names and faces! I really can’t think of a single negative thing to say except that I wish all of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s movies had been made into film comics as this one and several others have. I’m trying to keep this short both to avoid spoilers and to emphasize that this is the perfect gift for children learning to read books with somewhat complex themes (who is Arrietty? What makes her different from Shawn, a boy in the story close to her age? Why does she do the things she does, and why are her parents so afraid for her? What makes a person “human?” Why are her parents unwilling or unable to trust Shawn? Is there a difference between “stealing” and “borrowing?” Is taking something you need to survive from someone who has so much of that thing they won’t even be likely to notice that any is gone wrong, especially when you can’t even ask permission or arrange a trade without endangering everyone you love? And many more complex questions about society and people who have differing customs and ideologies but who must share living space to a degree) as well as for adults like me who love good storytelling combined with amazing artwork that can be read over and over!

Reason for Reading: The Borrowers is my 2nd favourite "little people" book. (Mistress Masham's Repose is my first) As soon as I saw the name Arrietty in the title I knew the book would have something to do with the Borrowers and had to read it.This is the film adaptation manga of the Japanese anime film produced by Studio Ghibli (most internationally famous for "Howl's Moving Castle"). The film was released in an English version this past Feb. (2012) two years after its Japanese release. It is a great quasi-adaptation of Mary Norton's "The Borrowers". Volume 1 goes up to the point where the boy has discovered Arrietty and her parents have decided they will have to move now for safety's sake. The anime graphics straight from the film, are beautiful and the book is a joy to both behold and read. There are a lot of action/wordless frames which make the book suitable for all levels of readers and the story will be enjoyed by all fans of "The Borrowers". There is a very slight Japanese flavour to the story but only in a few little details which just adds a neat addition to the story. One thing I particularly liked was that Arrietty's father, Pod, is not the usual bumbling chubby fool. In this adaptation, he is a broad shouldered he-man type of guy. A man of few words but obviously the take-charge "man of the house." It is hardly necessary to have read The Borrowers first as the story is all here, but I think this new presentation will especially delight readers of the original classic.