The Little Grey Men

Name: The Little Grey Men
Author: BB
ISBN: 9780192719461

core novel 1942 The Little Grey Men

Record

First published	1942
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	core
Reader rating	4.13 (1,684 ratings, collected 2026-09-27)
First-edition ISBN	9780192719461
Internal chronology	1

Synopsis

Dodder, Baldmoney, Sneezewort and Cloudberry are the last four gnomes in England, living in a snug burrow under the roots of an old oak on the bank of the Folly Brook in Warwickshire. Their quiet life of fishing and foraging is unsettled when Cloudberry, restless to explore the wider world, sets off upstream to find the source of the Folly and does not come back. Two years later the three remaining brothers build a boat and set out upstream after him. Their voyage carries them through the English countryside from spring to the first frosts of autumn, among water voles, badgers, otters and birds who help or hinder them, and past dangers that include a stoat, a fox, a shipwreck and a gamekeeper with a gun.

Where it sits

Universe: The Little Grey Men
Series: The Little Grey Men core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
Author: BB

Awards (verified)

Carnegie Medal, 1942: won

Notes

From the series record (The Little Grey Men): The last four gnomes in England, brothers living by the Folly Brook in Warwickshire, and their two voyages: upstream to find their missing brother, and downstream to find a new home when the brook dries up.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.

Reading order, within the series The Little Grey Men: position 1 of 2: next Down the Bright Stream (1948)

Sources

← The Little Grey Men dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.