The Secret World of Arrietty Picture Book - Hardcover

by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (Author)

Based on the beloved classic The Borrowers by Mary Norton. The picture book based on the movie!

Arrietty isn't your ordinary fourteen-year-old girl--she's small enough to make her home under the floorboards of a typical house, "borrowing" what she and her family need from the giants in whose shadows they live. A young boy named Shawn befriends Arrietty, but when adults discover the Borrowers, Arrietty and Shawn must work together to save her family. Based on the classic novel series The Borrowers by Mary Norton, The Secret World of Arrietty is a delight for all ages.

Arrietty longs for adventures, but the world can be a dangerous place for one so small. She and her family live hidden beneath the floorboards of a house, borrowing the things they need from the humans who live inside. When Arrietty is discovered by a human boy named Shawn, her world is no longer secret and her family is in danger. If Arrietty can trust Shawn to protect her, she might discover a friendship she never imagined possible.

Author Biography

Born in 1973 in Ishikawa-ken, Japan, Hiromasa Yonebayashi studied Commercial Design at the Kanazawa College of Art. In 1996 Yonebayashi joined Studio Ghibli and worked as an "in-between" animator on Princess Mononoke (1997) and My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999), and as key animator for Spirited Away (2001), Ghiblies: Episode 2 (2002), Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and Ponyo (2008). He was also the assistant supervising animator for Tales from Earthsea (2006).

Yonebayashi has also worked on short films for the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka. He was the director of animation for Mei and the Baby Cat Bus (2002), the supervising animator for Imaginary Flying Machines (2002), and also storyboarded and directed Evolution (2008), a short film documenting the "Films Go Round" exhibit.

The Secret World of Arrietty marks the directorial debut of Yonebayashi.