Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web

Hardcover - USA - 1st Edition.

Author E. B. White Published 1952-10-15 Type Fiction Genre Drama, Comedy Themes Animals, Childhood, Farm, Friendship Age Group Children

Charlotte's Web is a children's novel written by E. B. White, illustrated by Garth Williams, and published on 1952-10-15.

The book is about a spider named Charlotte trying to save a pig named Wilbur from being killed and eaten by a farmer by spinning positive descriptions of him into her web.

Personal

Own?	Hardcover - USA.
Read?	Paperback / audiobook read by Meryl Streep.
Finished	2014-02-?? / 2024-12-08.

When I was a child, my mother bought us a boxed set of E.B. White's books, which included Charlotte's Web. I'm sure I looked through the pictures, and may have even read a few of the first pages, but I didn't read it fully then. I remember watching the 1973 animated film as a child too, but I don't think I read the book until I was 34. When my daughters were six, I listened to the Meryl Streep audiobook with them, then showed them the animated film.

Review

Overall:

Good

• The overall theme of the book, helping friends, particularly when they're in dire straights, is an important lesson for children.
• I don't know if it was intentional, but the book does a pretty good job of helping kids understand just how awful it is for animals to raise them as food, and probably contributed to numerous readers becoming vegetarians.
• Garth Williams's illustrations add a lot to the book, and I love the spiderweb interior of the layout.
• The scene where Charlotte dies at the end of the penultimate chapter is really quite moving.

Bad

• The scene where Uncle wins the blue ribbon isn't nearly as threatening as it could have been.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Covers

• 

  Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

• 

  Hardcover - USA - 70th Anniversary Edition.

• 

  Hardcover - USA - Interior.

• 

  Ink cover of the original release.

• 

  Watercolor cover of the original release.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Charlotte and Fern are both strong
Bechdel test?	Fail	Although there are several females, they pretty much only ever talk about Wilbur.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Every human in the book is assumed to be white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Adaptations

The book has been adapted numerous times including an animated feature film in 1973 and a live action film in 2006. A miniseries was in production in 2022, and may still be released. It has also been turned into a stage musical, and the 2006 film was adapted into two different video games. Multiple audio book recordings have also been made.

Quotes

— This section contains spoilers! —

• "Fern was up at daylight, trying to rid the world of injustice."
• "Salutations are greetings," said the voice. "When I say 'salutations,' it's just my fancy way of saying hello or good morning."
• "Children almost always hang onto things tighter than their parents think they will."
• "If I can fool a bug... I can surely fool a man. People are not as smart as bugs." ... "Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They'll believe anything they see in print."
• "Why did you do all this for me?" he asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you." "You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing." ... "By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."
• Nobody, of the hundreds of people that had visited the Fair, knew that a grey spider had played the most important part of all. No one was with her when she died.

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