A British children's book long ago.....?

Question

The heroine was a pigtailed schoolgirl who finds a colony of tiny people during school vacation. She would take a flatboat to the marsh when her governess had a headache or a visit from the vicar. She met the teeny king of the people, and that's all I remember. I would LOVE to read this as an adult!

Answer 1

T. H. White, Mistress Masham's Repose.

The tiny people were Lilliputians who had come back with Lemuel Gulliver and settled on an island on the estate where this child lives. The child, of course, becomes their ally as they are besieged by thoughtless, selfish adults.

T. H. White is best known for The Once and Future King (the children's section of that is called The Sword in the Stone). The musical Camelot is based on the adult portions of this work.

Enjoy Mistress Masham's Repose.

But even better books about a young woman who discovers little people and learns of their adventures is The Borrowers, the first book in a series by Mary Norton (others are The Borrows Afield, Afloat, Aloft, Avenged). The borrowers are those little people who live in our houses; all those little things we misplace and cannot find--pencil stubbs, postage stamps, thimbles, needles--have actually been "borrowed" by the these families to furnish their quarters, maybe in the grandfather clock, for example.

Reading these books to our children was a delight because we enjoyed the stories just as much as they did. Give 'em a try.

Answer 2

I could use one more clue here. How long ago did you read this; 10 years, 50 years? That would help.
You might enjoy reading The Borrowers (has a boy and tiny people).

Answer 3

Crossing Paths with the help of skill of Dianne Blacklock. i found it to be a calming, humorous learn. Jo Liddell is a journalist in Sydney suffering with her thanks to be regarded as a very worth columnist even inspite of the glaring shown actuality that she receives stuck doing fluff products maximum of the time. She has purely provided her own flat, is having an affair with a married guy and many times feels surprisingly reliable about her existence. the in straightforward words aspect lacking-even inspite of the glaring shown actuality that she’s now no longer likely searching-is a guy she would have a first fee relationship with. In steps Joe Bannister. Award-prevailing journalist and swarthy as well. Joe is a likeable personality who has come back to Australia to be on the point of his in detrimental health father yet isn't searching to fall in love. Jo and Joe come head-to-head on many activities and their households and acquaintances provide a standard backdrop for his or her squabbles and dramas. even with the shown shown actuality that, purely once you imagine of both Jo/es are destined to be at the same time, there’s yet another magnificent twist to the tale. Crossing Paths is a thrilling, nicely-written romp for its style and one for the Marian Keyes followers available