What’s she doing reading Charlotte’s Web? – I hear you say. Well it was another one of those tumbleweed moments for me and for some reason I never did read the book when I was wee. Why – I don’t know. Maybe I just didn’t fancy it because of the inevitable spider content.
Anyway, I rectified matters and read it and my copy has now been passed on to some wee people of my acquaintance. I think it’s probably just as well that I didn’t read the book as a youngster because it might have turned me into a vegetarian, for a while anyway, until the smell of bacon got too much for me. It would have driven my mother round the bend if I had gone vegetarian. I obviously missed a trick there.
It’s an enjoyable read at any age I think and I didn’t realise that it had been turned into a film too. I think it was called Some Pig. Another surprise was that it was written by an American, I had thought E.B.White was a Brit, you live and learn. He was a farmer and he lived in Maine.
When my boys were wee, we did have a pet spider which lived in our kitchen, at the bottom of one of the window frames. He – the boys decided it was male – was named Cornelius by them, after a footballer. He was small, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to put up with him, and he eventually disappeared to pastures new – or died, which is more likely I suppose.
If you’re lucky enough to have any grandchildren, this might be a book they would like to read.
Well, I don’t know. We must have been dumb little kids because my third grade teacher read Charlotte’s Web to us and, as far as I know, none of immediately became vegetarians – even me. It took me another thirty years to make the connections necessary for me to become a vegetarian.
I used to confuse E. B. White, an American writer, with T. H. White, the British writer who wrote, among other things, The Once and Future King, and I’m guessing that’s why you thought E. B. was British.
E. B. was a fantastic essayist, too. He was married to the editor / author Katherine White. They eventually lived in Maine, where they gardened and farmed. That’s where E. B. got the idea for Charlotte’s Web. Katherine wrote a great gardening book called Onward and Upward in the Garden, which, as a gardener, you might want to read.
Joan,
I have read The Once and Future King and some others by T.H. White so that’s probably why I was mixed up. I love gardening books but I wonder if Onward and Upward would be of any use to me as the climate in Maine must be so different from Scotland, or is it just an interesting gardening read no matter where you are?
I think it’s just a well-written, lovely book about gardening and life in Maine. It’s what I call a narrative gardening book, not a how-to book. I believe I still have my copy, packed away with so many of my books. I think I’ll look for it and read it again.
Joan,
I like that kind of book, it sounds like a bit of a rural ramble. I enjoy Christopher Lloyd’s books, he had some nice recipes in them, as well as garden chat.
I laughed when I saw your post because I had been thinking of reading this again. I read it to my son many years ago (we read aloud a lot) and I remember it as a story that can be enjoyed at any age. Don’t know if we still have a copy though. We have kept many children’s books for the illustrations. I am subscribing to your blog by email.
TracyK,
Thanks for subscribing. I well remember the days of reading to my sons, my youngest son wanted me to read to him all the time, he was crazy on Narnia for a while then he moved on to Dr.Who. I was quite glad when he started reading them on his own. I have quite a lot of nursery age books which I’ve held on to for the gorgeous illustrations.
Your first line made me smile, because that’s not a question I’d ask – I still have a copy on my shelves. I recently bought a book of White’s essays from the New Yorker at a library sale, which is still on the TBR stacks.
Lisa,
I’ll have to look out for his essays on the internet because I’m sure I’ll never find them anywhere in Scotland. I’m just back from a trip to England. The TBR stack has grown somewhat larger as a result.
Charlotte’s Web was my favorite book as a kid. I read it a number of times and happily sobbed at the end each time. I still have my childhood copy on my bookshelves đŸ™‚
Stefanie,
It’s lovely that you still have your original copy, I’ve had to buy a lot of my old friends again because I came home from school one day to discover that my mum had given all my books away as I had grown out of them – apparently.I avoided doing that with my own kids!
Loved this book as a child and again reading it to my own children. I still have my childhood copy. Glad you finally go to read it.
Tami,
Thanks for dropping by. I’ve been trying to read the books which I somehow missed in childhood, so that I know what people are talking about whenever they’re mentioned, and good books are great whatever age you are.
I’ve never read Charlotte’s Web, but I loved the film as a child. I watched it many times. I think I might have to read the book as I feel I’ve missed on a great children’s classic!
Anbolyn,
I thought I was the last person in the western world to have read it – but that must be you! It’s well worth a read and it won’t take you long, mind you, as I hadn’t even seen the film I was clueless as to what it was about, so I felt out of the loop, at least you already know the story.
It wasn’t until I was 12 years old and in the seventh grade that I read Charlotte’s Web, which is usually read by much younger children.
I simply loved it–in fact, could not believe that I would cherish such a book. I tried to persuade everyone I could to read it, young and old. I was immensely fond of Wilbur, who reminded me of my yellow labrador at the time, probably because of their mutual fondness for food, in any shape or form.
I cried when Charlotte died. But I didn’t mind because her life was so beautiful.
Judith
Judith,
It’s quite a feat for an author to manage to make children (and adults) fond of a small grey spider, but he certainly managed it. Every labarador I’ve ever known has been an absolute Hoover as far as food is concerned! I mean vacuum cleaner, not politician, although he was probably much the same as a labrador – appetite wise.
One of my favorite books of all time, and E.B. White is an American treasure. If you’re interested, there’s a great book called The YEars with Ross, by James Thurber, during the time when he and White wrote for a fledgling magazine called The New Yorker. It’s filled with E.B. White anecdotes and he sounds like he was a lovely man as well as a man of letters. Then, then there’s the definitive grammar book for which he wrote the introduction for his friend and former professor (I believe), Strunk.
Charlotte is the only spider I can abide, btw.
Jane GS,
Thanks for the Thurber info, I’ve been on the point of buying some of his books recently as I’ve come across quite a few, of course now I wish I had bought them. I’ll keep my eyes open for The Years with Ross.
I had to laugh at the Labrador and Hoover remarks! I loved Charlotte’s Web too. He also wrote another great kids book ‘The Trumpet of the Swan’. My Daughter-in-law just cleaned out the kids bookshelves and got rid of a lot (she’s too good about throwing away!) but she did ask Isa to go thru them with her which was good! By the way, Katrina, we are enjoying the Alan Garner book immensely!
Peggy Ann,
At least she allows Isa her choice of books to keep. I’ve just passed a lot of kids books on to some wee ones that I know but they were mainly books I had bought for myself, the ones I had missed out on for some reason. There are some that I can’t part with though! I’m glad to hear that you’re enjoying Alan Garner.