Kathleen Mary Norton, better known by her professional name Mary Norton, was an esteemed English children's author, born in London on December 10, 1903, and passed away in Bideford on August 29, 1992. She gained fame through her series of low fantasy novels titled The Borrowers (1952 to 1982), about diminutive people living secretly amidst contemporary human civilization. Her significant contribution to children's literature was recognized when she received the 1952 Carnegie Medal from The Library Association for The Borrowers, acknowledging it as the year's most outstanding book for children by a British author. On the 70th anniversary of the Medal in 2007, The Borrowers was named one of the top ten winning works, selected to be part of a panel for a public election to choose the all-time favorite.

Norton's novels The Magic Bed-Knob (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1945), later published as a single book under the title Bed-Knob and Broomstick, served as the basis for Disney's 1971 film adaptation Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Before her writing career took off, Norton worked for the War Office in 1940 and then for the British Purchasing Commission in New York during the Second World War, where she began her writing journey. Her initial work, The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Be, marked the beginning of a prolific writing career that would enchant generations of readers.

Norton was not only celebrated for her creative storytelling but also for the vivid imagination that brought her characters to life, making her an indelible mark on the landscape of children's literature.