This is the story of a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur - and of Wilbur's dear friend Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn. With the help of Templeton, the rat who never did anything for anybody unless there was something in it for him, and by a wonderfully clever plan of her own, Charlotte saved the life of Wilbur, who by this time had grown up to be quite a pig.
How this all comes about is Mr. White's story. It is the story of the magic of childhood on the farm. The thousands of children who loved Stuart Little, the heroic little city mouse, will be entranced by Charlotte the spider, Wilbur the pig, and Fern, the little girl who understood their language.
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This is the book which turned me into both a …
This is the story of a little girl named Fern who loved a little pig named Wilbur - and of Wilbur's dear friend Charlotte A. Cavatica, a beautiful large grey spider who lived with Wilbur in the barn. With the help of Templeton, the rat who never did anything for anybody unless there was something in it for him, and by a wonderfully clever plan of her own, Charlotte saved the life of Wilbur, who by this time had grown up to be quite a pig.
How this all comes about is Mr. White's story. It is the story of the magic of childhood on the farm. The thousands of children who loved Stuart Little, the heroic little city mouse, will be entranced by Charlotte the spider, Wilbur the pig, and Fern, the little girl who understood their language.
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This is the book which turned me into both a book lover, and an English Major, at age 5. My sister, who was 8 at the time, had checked it out and asked my mother to read it aloud to her. I listened in, and was hooked from the first page. As soon as I could comprehend the basics of reading, this is the book I read, more than any other. The story (Talking animals! Friendly spiders!) is down-home, laugh-out-loud funny, but also charming and slighly sad, but still optimistic, at it's conclusion. While children who have never experienced farm life may not understand some of the details, the pace of the story is quick enough to keep everyone entertained, one chapter at a time.
Please, if you need the "perfect book" to read to a child who loves animals, Charlotte's Web would be a great choice!
E.B. White proves that great writing can eschew all pretensions of greatness. A beautifully crafted tale about friendship (and writing) that exudes love and kindness from every page. This was my second time reading this as an adult, and I don't think it will be my last. Much like his "Elements of Style," this is a book I return to when I get lost in the sea of ambitious and clever fiction. Going to read it to my kids as much as they can stand it.
I have a heavy nostalgia bias. I read this book probably 10 times as a kid. I also watched both the animated movie and the CGI film 20 times. I read it again as an adult a while ago and will definitely read it again. If you have a kid, you should absolutely get them a copy. :)
I feel like I would've been more favourable to this book had it been something that I had a hint of nostalgia for, if it were something I'd read in school and remembered fondly. It wasn't. This was the first time I'd read it, especially since it was something that never appeared on my elementary or middle school curriculum.
Being a farm kid myself, I initially could relate to Fern because I always wanted to take care of the animals and spend time around them; I spent a lot of time in our calf barn helping my aunt to feed them or out in the farrowing house helping my mother to take care of the piglets. I still can relate to Fern's desire to spend her time around the animals and tell stories about them. I spent a lot of summers in barn lofts with the kittens. However, it was …
I feel like I would've been more favourable to this book had it been something that I had a hint of nostalgia for, if it were something I'd read in school and remembered fondly. It wasn't. This was the first time I'd read it, especially since it was something that never appeared on my elementary or middle school curriculum.
Being a farm kid myself, I initially could relate to Fern because I always wanted to take care of the animals and spend time around them; I spent a lot of time in our calf barn helping my aunt to feed them or out in the farrowing house helping my mother to take care of the piglets. I still can relate to Fern's desire to spend her time around the animals and tell stories about them. I spent a lot of summers in barn lofts with the kittens. However, it was only up to a point; when White decided that he needed to shoehorn in some childhood romance-crush-infatuation thing with Henry Fussy? I sort of zoned out and stopped caring about Fern (who, as it turned out, stopped caring about her pig because boys and "growing up"). It was sort of boring to have her go from 'interested in her pig' to 'I don't care about anything because I want to be by Henry Fussy's side in the Ferris wheel'. (Perhaps I also hate those kinds of stories because that was the kind of environment I lived in, where my farmer grandparents wanted me to stop keeping to myself and go find myself a nice farmer boy. At the age of 10.)
I get that it was written in the 1950s and by a man. I still don't care. That immediately removed a lot of the interest and relatability for me.
But if I focus on the friendship between Charlotte and Wilbur, which I probably ought, I find it to be an endearing tale. And that's where much of the positive aspects of the story are for me. A majority of the human aspects of the story could've been removed, and it would've still been coherent.
One of my favorite childrens books ever. Wilbur the pig is a runt, and little Fern doesn't want him killed. She makes it so that he can live on a farm with her uncle. One of the animals tells poor Wilbur that he's going to be Christmas dinner, and he freaks out. This is where Charlotte comes in. She informs Wilbur that she's going to save his life, and she does just that. White did a really good job of making animals seem to have the atributes that they actually have, he just well, makes them talk. I honestly don't know how people can't like this book, and why it's not more popular. All young children just need to read this book, it's that good.
an everlasting story of friendship. this is where i learned the difference between fair (like, a carnival) and fair (like, equal). since then, ive always wanted to give a pig a buttermilk bath.
