Have you noticed anything missing from your home lately? Perhaps a cube of sugar or a piece of tissue paper? If so, you might have Borrowers living under your floorboards! “The Secret World of Arrietty,” based on the Borrowers books by Mary Norton, follows a spirited young Borrower named Arrietty Clock as she navigates the big world around her. Borrowers are tiny people who “borrow” small items from their regular-sized, human neighbors in order to survive – and they must do this without being discovered.

“Good Luck Charlie” star Bridgit Mendler is the voice of Arrietty. TFK spoke to the actress about playing a teensy girl in a land of giants.

Time for Kids: Were you familiar with the Borrowers books before you heard about the project?

Bridgit Mendler: I had definitely heard of the story, but I hadn’t read the books. My grandfather actually had, so it was cool to tell him about the project. He was excited about that.

TFK: For those who don’t know, who exactly are the Borrowers?

Bridgit: The Borrowers are these tiny people who live in the floorboards of human houses. They basically steal from the humans, but only things that people won’t notice are missing, like a paperclip or a rubber band or a postage stamp ... things like that.

TFK: How would you describe your character?

Bridgit: She’s a girl with a lot of curiosity and a lot of heart. She meets this human boy, whom she’s been instructed by her parents to stay clear of. Humans can be dangerous to Borrowers because they might try to catch them and expose them. But she winds up befriending him anyway, and he winds up needing her help too, so they become good friends.

TFK: How did you go about imagining yourself as this tiny being in a huge world?

Bridgit: Well, the cool part about working on animation is that you get to use your imagination a lot. Luckily for me, I had the Japanese version of the movie to watch as I recorded. I enjoyed it, because I was able to step into Arrietty’s shoes that way.

TFK: Aside from Arrietty, did you have a favorite character from the film?

Bridgit: You know, I like the cat. The cat has a lot of pizazz.

TFK: Arrietty likes to collect plants to decorate her room. Do you collect anything?

Bridgit: I love to collect cookbooks. I like looking for new things to cook. And I love having fresh flowers in my house, so the plant similarity with Arrietty is kind of there. I also love chocolate, so I have quite a stash of chocolate around my room!