The Secret World of Arrietty Picture Book Hardcover – Picture Book, February 7, 2012

My seven-year-old and I are great fans of Studio Ghibli productions and watched The Secret World of Arietty last weekend. In the tradition of Hayao Miyazaki's animated films, Arietty (screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi) is full of wonder and vivid, detailed hand-drawn animation.Inspired by Mary Norton's The Borrowers, The Secret World of Arietty centers on a family of little people called The Borrowers, who live in a quiet old house set amidst nature. The family of little people comprise father Pod, over-anxious mother Homily, and teen daughter Arietty who is a budding explorer and yearns for adventure.The borrowers' quiet existence is brought to an end with the arrival of twelve-year-old Shawn, a sickly young boy who has been sent by his parents to his aunt's house in the country, while he awaits to undergo an operation. Shawn has heard stories of the little people from his mother, and when he spies Arietty flitting among the flowers one day, it changes the course of both their lives. Can a 'bean' (human being) be friends with a borrower? Or are their worlds incompatible?This beautifully-illustrated picture book/ graphic novel contains lots of color illustrations as seen in the movie, with text to accompany the illustrations. There is enough text here to convey the essence of the story, and my seven-year-old was completely absorbed in the book, reading independently and delighting in the illustrations. I'd recommend this to fans of the movie, and for anyone who appreciates a well-illustrated story.

When I went on a Miya-san book purchasing binge from Viz, I wasn't sure how these picture books would relate to the 'Art of' books. Turns out these picture books are just that, re-tellings of the movies using the cell artwork and word balloons where appropriate. The glossy pages and images hold up well and the hardcovers are well manufactured in this batch. These books are suitable to reading to small children as bed time stories, though older readers may appreciate them just as much. Arrietty's world is wonderfully reproduced here. They are complimentary to the 'Art of' books, but not replacements. Still very recommended.

I watched the movie with my two grandchildren, Nicholas 9 and Victoria 5. This was the first time ever that Victoria sat still and was totally captivated by Arrietty and the story. I bought the book for her for Christmas because she will be delighted to have more of Arrietty. The book is perfectly beautiful and follows the movie exactly. I highly recommend it.

The artwork is lovely, just like being able to pause the movie and enjoy the detailed scenery. The pictures are placed intuitively along with the storyline. If you are looking for something that follows the movie word for word, you'd be better off buying all the comic books. This book definitely skips much of the detail, but it's definitely worth buying, just to have the pictures

Wow is this book beautiful. The illustrations are amazing, and with the captions and the story lines this book is just like watching the movie. My daughter, who was 4 1/2 when we got this, would sit for an hour while we read it. Then we would act out scenes and read more.

My 5-year-old daughter and I really enjoyed reading this together. The art is beautiful and we root for the characters. She had previously enjoyed other Studio Ghibli picture books, My Neighbor Totoro Picture Book (The Art of My Neighbor Totoro) and Kiki's Delivery Service Picture Book[ KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE PICTURE BOOK ] by Miyazaki, Hayao (Author) Jun-01-06[ Hardcover ]

I happen to love all the Studio Ghibli movie story books. These larger hard cover formats rather than the smaller multisoft covers are story boarded even better, If you would love to share the story of Arrietty with young children than this is the best way for them to get aquatinted with the story.

My 12-year old's review: "I really loved the movie and also liked this book. We've had this book for a long time, and I've read it at least 20 times! Watched the movie about three times. It was a fun and sweet adventure through The Secret World of Arrietty. I really enjoyed this book!!!"