Name of children's novel?

August 9, 2007 7:57 PM

For nostalgia's sake, I'm trying to recall the title of a British novel (or maybe it was a series of novels, I'm not sure) about a family of animated rag dolls who live anonymous lives until a human discovers their secret and falls in love with one of them (?) Yeah, it's a bizarre concept, but I remember it being kind of poignant in an Edward Scissorhands-esque way. Since I read the book as a kid, I suppose it would have been published about 15 years ago, give or take.
posted by Sullenshady to media & arts (3 comments total)

This sounds like The Mennyms series by Sylvia Waugh.
posted by annabellee at 8:25 PM on August 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mennyms...that's it. Thank you!
posted by Sullenshady at 8:46 PM on August 9, 2007

They are brilliant books (not as good as the Borrowers series, but close); like a lot of people, I discovered them after reading an interview with Edward Gorey in which he praised them highly. But the ending of the first Mennyms book is very disturbing, with the family trapped in this ghastly simulacrum of real life and unable to break out of it. I find them very sad books (perhaps more for adults than for children?), but I heartily recommend them to anyone reading this thread.
posted by verstegan at 2:56 AM on August 10, 2007