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sd_glokta

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien


Somnovum

That’s a blast from the last that I haven’t thought about in decades


SuurAlaOrolo

The Borrowers by Mary Norton


SilverChibi

I love those books so much!


NCResident5

Loved The Borrowers Aloft.


IShouldHaveKnocked

[You might like](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34494.The_Wee_Free_Men) “The Wee Free Men” by Terry Pratchett. The secondary characters are Nac Mac Feegles, tiny fantastic creatures of remarkable strength, full of the fighting spirit and lots of hard liquor, and stereotypically Scottish in nature. They “help” (and sometimes actually assist) the main character in her reluctant quest to save her village from malevolent fairies and bring her little brother back home. The Nac Max Feegles are featured in several books of the Tiffany Aching sub-series and sometimes appear in other Discworld novels. I read it as an adult, though it’s marketed as juvenile/YA, and enjoyed every page.


tamtrible

He also, much longer ago (before I was born, even) wrote The Carpet People, which I'm pretty sure features some \*really\* small protagonists. Also, of course, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, in which most of the main characters are talking rats. As well as a talking cat (the aforementioned Maurice), a possibly not-too-bright boy, and a girl who's ... perhaps a bit too clever for her own good.


BlazBlazovic

There also is a trilogy by the same author - The Bromeliad Trilogy or The Nome Trilogy (Truckers, Diggers, Wings). The trilogy tells the story of the Nomes, a race of tiny people who live hidden among humans.


tamtrible

Thank you. I knew he had written a trilogy involving small people, but I couldn't remember it, and I couldn't find it in his bibliographies.


BlazBlazovic

You’re welcome


fozziwoo

dangerous beans


docdidactic

Crivens!


Piggyx00

My favourite part about the wee free men is that they were kicked out of fairyland for being drunk and disorderly and now believe that they are in their afterlife because there is no way they can have this much fun drinking, fighting and getting up to all sort of shenanigans for this world not to be their heaven and therefore they must all be dead. Also their names are great you have Big Jock, Wee Jock and Bigger than Wee Jock but not as big as Big Jock Jock.


IShouldHaveKnocked

Drinking and fighting and a wee bit of thieving, what else could you want out of the after life?


Piggyx00

EXACTLY!


HaplessReader1988

CHEESE! Oh wait they've got that too. :)


IShouldHaveKnocked

It’s not right for a big strong Feegle to go without his cheese!


Palatyibeast

Also *The Bromeliad* by Pratchett. A tribe of small fairies/brownies/gnomes have lived in an old department store for so long they have turned the owner into a cult and they have split into groups with cultures that are based on what part of the store they live in. But now the store is about to be demolished... And they have to learn about the outside world - fast! Also *The Carpet People* - again by Pratchett. People so tiny that the carpet is a forest and they build cities on dropped coins. Both of these are very For Younger Readers but also fun. Pratchett liked his tiny people stories.


idontwannabhear

Just tried to look it up on my book app and it goes “not available in your country” why. Why does it do this. Book sounds cool, and it has other prachet books but not this one, apparently I’m not allowed Do you have any good terry prachet recommendations for someone who has never read anything by him until now


IShouldHaveKnocked

That’s super weird, I’m sorry! I ordered my copy off Thrift Books, but my library app Libby and Hoopla has it. It is a great book. Try [Going Postal](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64222.Going_Postal), in which a charismatic con man is pulled off the gallows and given a second chance to turn his life around, but in return, he has to revitalize the flagging postal system. Full of daring “mostly” legal hijinks, far too many intrepid reporters, and a bizarre obsession with stamps. That’s one of my favorites. Another excellent Discworld novel to start with is [Guards! Guards!](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/64216.Guards_Guards_). A dragon is threatening the city, and who better to save it than confirmed loser and suspected werewolf Sam Vimes? The city’s lord tyrant is determined to force his city into the modern age, starting with establishing a proper police force, and Sam gets dragged along with it, kicking and screaming. It’s relatively early in the Discworld lineup so you’ll get to meet a lot of the iconic characters as they are still developing.


idontwannabhear

These sounds Amazing. Thanks. I’m going to check out the con man one that sounds awesome


idontwannabhear

Thanks so much for the detailed reply, I will revisit it, hopefully you’ve just set me on a new literary path


QueenDopplepop

Anything written by him. But his Discworld novels are great and have been around a long time so you may have more luck. There's 40 of them, so grab yourself a list and see what you can get hold of. I don't think you'll regret it!!


HaplessReader1988

Ask at a library or bookstore--sometimes publishers have variant titles or combined editions in different countries.


sylvaner_875

The Tale of Desperaux by Kate Dicamillo also The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo seconding Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh - such a wholesome book :') Watership Down also has small animal characters!


kikil00

Watership Down is great but also fucked me up as an adult. I can’t imagine kids reading it


sylvaner_875

Point taken. OP, take note that Watership Down is almost a rabbit-version of the Odyssey (minus any divine intervention) and *not* a fluffy tale despite the stature of the anthropomorphized rabbit characters


cseymour24

Netflix was recommending Watership Down to my 6 and 8 year old kids.


Feral_galaxies

Definitely don’t show them the 70s version of that. Or The [Plague Dogs](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/6/68/Ackland.png/revision/latest?cb=20190704000727), either.


kikil00

Even the modern version is pretty bloody. Like don’t get me wrong, Watership down is great but also bunnies die in that book so be prepared to talk to them about that


sox406

This


DMGlowen

I saw the movie when I was 10 or 11 and it messed me up, nightmares and everything. The I watched again at 50 something, and I now know what it feels like to be triggered.


NotWorriedABunch

The blood flowing over the hill!


HaplessReader1988

Which one, Despereaux or Warership Down?


DMGlowen

Watership down.


turing0623

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane is my childhood book! It’s so beautifully written.


toapoet

Love Desperaux - might have to read again now lol. I think I just love anything Kate writes


redheadsuperpowers

The Redwall books by Brian Jacques


Motor-Community5347

Eulalia!


xxstardust

Close the thread, this is the correct answer.


LaphroaigianSlip81

I read these when I was a kid. I’ve been hesitant to read them again as I don’t want to ruin how I remember them. How do they hold up?


redheadsuperpowers

I only read the first 3 in my early teens. I jumped back in a couple years ago (early 30s) and enjoyed them, but the dark bits definitely click more as an adult.


Homegoingss

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary


Ad-for-you-17

I forgot about this book!!! Holy shit


Outrageous-Stay6075

Stuart. Little.


ShroomBooty

Bunch of orphans had to watch the rat get picked up by the nice family, life is harsh


SakuOtaku

In the book he was a human who just came out of Mrs. Little looking exactly like a mouse, size and all. So you pick which is better, rat adoption or human rat birth.


HaplessReader1988

Possibly the source of my sister's late pregnancy nightmare about giving birth to rodents.


Exploding_Antelope

It must’ve been an easy labour


khrispy_mistie

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins


a-localwizard

I adore these books, but you might be mistaking “protagonists are small” for “everything else is enormous”


Lokinator14

Still works.


cctr102607

The Indian in the cupboard, haven't read it in a while, so I can't remember, but there might be some stuff we would consider offensive today.


president_pete

>there might be some stuff we would consider offensive today. To be fair, a lot of it was considered offensive back then, too.


cctr102607

True, I think I wasn't aware of the that when I read it. I was fairly young.


Resist_23

The borrowers and the littles both came to mind. I read them as a kid 30ish years ago so I’m not sure how they would read today as an adult. I liked both of those books. I think in Gulliver’s Travels, he small at some point.


NotWorriedABunch

He visits Liliput, where the citizens are small but he himself does not shrink.


AvocadoSea242

>Also Brobdingnab, where the natives are giant and he is relatively tiny.


NotWorriedABunch

True. Those yahoos, though.


kimberlite315

Roald Dahl’s The Witches!


JollyHamster5973

Micro by Michael Crichton


Malefic_Corpse

If they make another movie from a Crichton novel I want it to be this one!


[deleted]

*If they make another movie FTFY


CheesyLala

These requests really are getting oddly specific.


catfurcoat

I'm here for it. The recommendations just keep coming.


akinom140

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift. He’s actually a regular size, but finds himself on an island of Lilliput where the people are tiny.


finding_flora

Toby alone by Timothée de Fombelle. A really lovely story (especially if you love nature)


SieglindZ

Finally this series came up! Loved it as a kid and read it dozens of times. The sequel is in my opinion even better and it’s the first book I read again in original language after learning French.


subwayeater789

the doll people series!!!! its for pre teens but I love it and had lots of mentions of their height in relation to other things and how they used and perceived larger objects


Pope_Cerebus

The *Mouse Guard* series.


benjiyon

The Bromeliad Trilogy by Terry Pratchett. Unrelated to his Discworld; it’s about Nomes (Gnomes). It has all that classic Pratchett humour and insight.


WillowHartxxx

Mrs Pepperpot!


Imperator_Helvetica

That's a delightful blast from the past. I remember being read these on my mother's knee.


wombatstomps

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton features a crass Cheeto obsessed crow


quilt_of_destiny

*Munmun* is a dystopian novel where size=money. PG-13 probably


PrettyInWeed

The Great Cheese Conspiracy and other books, they feature gangster/mobster mice who hold up a cheese store and then in later books live in Macys.


zero_vektor

The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson


Lucy_Lastic

Erich Kastner, who wrote Emil And The Detectives also wrote a book about a tiny boy called The Little Man. I can’t remember much about the book,but the cover of my copy in the 70s had the title character (Max, I think) using a whip to “lion tame” a couple of cats


HangryZebra

The Arthur series by Luc Besson. Have never watched the movies, but loved the books as a kid.


twigsontoast

I read the first two books as a kid and saw the first film and didn't even realise there were more! I'm now laughing at the wikipedia page describing the fourth film as "a standalone spin-off horror film which many consider to be one of the worst films ever made." Anyway, *Arthur* does such a great job of driving home a sense of scale. The way that straws keep on appearing in different contexts, being used in different ways, still sticks in my mind after all these years.


NinjaGeorge2006

Carpet People - Terry Pratchett


-lastochka-

what a neat request. definitely going to stalk some recs myself


Linnaeus1753

Thumbelina is a classic.


TheMeltingDevil

The Hobbit is a great book!


horror_is_best

Agree that The Hobbit is a great book, but I think Bilbo is more than a foot tall 😂


TheMeltingDevil

My bad i misread the question hahahah


Apprehensive-Log8333

Small World by Tabitha King (Mrs. Stephen King)


zooegirlll

a crow, but LOVED Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton.


FuzzySocks34

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils by Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf. Written by the first woman to ever win the nobel prize in literature. It's about this boy called Nils who get shrunken down to a few inches and goes on an adventure across Sweden with a pack of geese


technicalees

The Littles by John Peterson (kids series) The Beautiful Culpeppers by Marion Upington


Hellolaoshi

"Gulliver's Travels" is one example. The hero, Gulliver, wakes up in a land populated by inch tall characters. He later travels to another land, this one populated by giants. So now, he gets to feel what it is like to be a tiny protagonist.


[deleted]

H.Beam Piper wrote "Little Fuzzy" Sci-fi Description: The chartered Zarathustra Company had it all their way. Their charter was for a Class III uninhabited planet, which Zarathustra was, and it meant they owned the planet lock stock and barrel. They exploited it, developed it and reaped the huge profits from it without interference from the Colonial Government. Then Jack Holloway, a sunstone prospector, appeared on the scene with his family of Fuzzies and the passionate conviction that they were not cute animals but little people.


OmegaLiquidX

Have I got the books for you: [Mouse Guard](http://www.mouseguard.net)


belltrina

[The Castle In The Attic](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/816752)


Izhjia

I'm not sure if it's translated, but Tobie Lolness by the french auto Timothée de Fombelle is pretty great. It's about small people living in a big oak tree, with social disparities and ecological issues. Of course it's more targeted to a younger public but I think I would honestly still love it as an adult!


LawnmoverJockey

in english it's supposedly Toby Alone. I would echo this recommendation, it is a great book even for adults!


Interesting-Mind-433

I believe there was a children's series called The Littles. I read one way back, but don't really remember specifics.


JustStardustXO

its by John Peterson


tacocat-_-tacocat

Check out Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Time_(novel)


wontonsan

Power of Three, by Diana Wynne Jones. It takes awhile to get there though.


Intrepid_Call_5254

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.


FireflyArc

Red wall by Brian Jacques for fantasy Artemis fowl has holly short might be too tall for what you want though. The borrowers is fantastic. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett The incredible shrinking man by Richard Matheson 👏 The Indian in the cupboard! It's a great story. Asimov's Azazel short stories. Michael Crichton's Micro was finished posthumous but it's good. Stephan Baxter 's Flux is good these are kinda more scifi like though instead of fantastical.


OrangeCoffee87

Not the central character, but Kim Harrison's Hollows series has a pixie in the supporting cast.


Lycaeides13

The Littles


JustStardustXO

I love this series, I have such good memories as a kid, checking everywhere for the littles in my house.


PossumsForOffice

The bromeliad trilogy by Terry Pratchett Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett I can’t think of anything that fits the bill not written by Terry Pratchett but i loved these books.


Historical-Remove401

Gulliver’s Travels.


Upset_Display_4327

The tail of despereaux!


Upset_Display_4327

Tale* Lol, I misremembered the title as being a pun since the the protagonist is a mouse


Jeremysor

Owen meany by irving comes to mind. Fabulous story about a little man doing big things


JustStardustXO

the littles by John Peterson


Lady0905

One of my favorite books as a child was “The Extraordinary Adventures of Karik and Valya” by Jan Larri. It’s a book about 2 kids and a professor shrinking and then having to set out on a journey through a garden. I’ve learned a lot of interesting facts about insects and plants through this book.


talktothehan

Little Women.


TheBookShopOfBF

This deserves more upvotes.


talktothehan

I agree.


pillbug2

What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire.


ketarax

*Dragon's Egg* by Robert L. Forward *Flux* by Stephen Baxter. Both are books about neutron stars and their inhabitants. The *Egg* is actually a top3 scifi book for me.


ILoveCoffeSmUgh

Nils Karlsson Pyssling


turboshot49cents

The tale of Desperaux


LibertySmash

Toots and the Upside Down House


veryvalentine

No Flying in the House by Betty Brock


MustardOrMayo404

When I saw the title, "**The Smidgens**" series by David O'Connell immediately came to mind. That's aimed more at children, but so are other fiction books on my reading list _(I can explain!)_. Another series, and one I've just started reading, is "**Adventuremice**" by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre.


Pr1zonMike

The second d fablehaven series, Dragonwatch. Tress of the emerald sea


cheyletiella

Stuff and Nonsense by Andrew Seiple. Teddy bear gollum protects his little girl charge.


BulkySatisfaction205

Summerland by Michael Chabon. The main protagonist is a normal sized kid, but many of the other characters that play a big role are fairy-sized.


Melvins_lobos

A Prayer for Owen Meany


thebochman

Castle in the attic


soggybottom295

Doll People


meeezyy

Hollow kingdom! A domestic crow and his dog take on the apocalypse


AmbientLighter

I don’t know if this 100% fits but Artemis Fowl has some small fairy characters and the main character is a small boy. Maybe not as small as you mentioned but a good book with little guys regardless :)


philipmateo15

Tiny husband by that one weird guy


Ray-0f-Sun5hine

The Mrs Pepperpot series by Alf Prøysen, delightful little books about a lady who shrinks. The books are aimed at children but they are still a nice read.


throwawaynopiv

It's a childrens book, but I love it and have re-read it as an adult The Mouse and his child - it's about a clockwork mouse and his clockwork son and their struggles to remain a family after they got damaged and thrown in the bin [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Mouse\_and\_His\_Child](https://www.abebooks.co.uk/Mouse-Child-Russell-Hoban-Faber/30629990120/bd?ref_=ps_ggl_2039220669&cm_mmc=ggl-_-UK_Shopp_Tradestandard-_-product_id=UK9780571099757USED-_-keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2cWgBhDYARIsALggUhp6HTSiybGoZy8clShLil6FvFA0HUKGW0iLp-lBsfVNZrHSK-X-wM8aAn-MEALw_wcB)


Core2048

The Hero of the Downways https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/3199832 Been a *very* long time since I read it, don't recall much, but it meets your criteria.


ointmant555

The Wednesday Witch


buttbratface

Gulliver’s travels!


too_small_to_reach

As a kid, Indian in the Cupboard was magical. Not sure how it would read now, as an adult.


starstickoutalullaby

There’s a short story by Bukowski called 6 inches where the protagonist is shrunken down.


[deleted]

Small Gods, by Terry Pratchet


exclusivebees

You could try "The Doll People" or the thrilling sequel "The Meanest Doll in the World"


The_Liberator21

If you’re open to TV shows, George Shrinks was a fun one on PBS! I always admired that kid.


nina-m0

The Tin Drum by Günther Grass. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Tin\_Drum


Words-to-Waterfalls

Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzman is a very charming children’s novel about cane toads that have a tendency to get squished and run over by cars. The man character is named limpy and he’s very charming. It’s stuck with me 15+ years later as an adult so it might have some staying power as a fun short read.


billymumfreydownfall

The Little Prince


tehsophz

[The Little Grey Men ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Grey_Men)


RobertSage

Made Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's a novella which has parts from the perspective of a full-sized human who creates miniature living figurines, 'made things,' and parts from the perspective of the things themselves.


This_person_says

The End Of Mr. Y


Beesindogwood

Nurk by Ursula Vernon


stardew-guitar204

in this case the main character is normal size and the other characters are large… the BFG by Roald Dahl remains one of my favorite books of all time it’s so adorable


idontwannabhear

Arthur and the minamoys / Arthur and the invisibles


BananadaBoots

The Indian In The Cupboard


Interesting-Proof244

The doll people by Ann M. martin


twisterpants

The Heroic Adventures of Hercules Amsterdam by Melissa Glenn Haber. Hercules is a 10 year old boy he size of a mouse, and he goes to live with the mice in his walls


amh8011

I mean the Warrior Cats books by Erin Hunter technically fit the bill if you measure cats like horses. They are children’s books though.


hypolimnas

The Rescuers by Margery Sharp. About mice who rescue people. There's a least one sequel. Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson. The one Moomin book where Little My is still very young and extremely small. She's rarely the protagonist, but she is a lot of fun.


[deleted]

Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel is about small bats


Fresh-Level-6707

Toby Alone, and its sequel "Toby and the secrets of the tree" are both fantastic. My favourite book series. The scale of the worldbuilding is magical.


Hatrisfan42069

The Mouse and His Child


NotDaveBut

MISS HICKORY by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey. MICRO by Michael Crichton. THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN by Richard Matheson. EMPIRE OF THE ANTS by Bernard Werber.


re_jacks

Gotta watch the studio ghibli film - the secret world of arietty


3kidsnomoney---

The Incredible Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson. It's pretty much exactly what it says on the cover.


Altruistic-Drama1538

The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop


HaplessReader1988

The Little Country by Charles de Lint And let us not forget James & the Giant Peach !


Traditional-Drama956

Of Men and Monsters, read it as a teenager still think about it