A True Friend and a Good Writer
A review of Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
By Julia A. Keirns
Charlotte’s Web is a wonderfully written children’s classic book that every adult should read at least once in their lifetime. It is a well-written fantasy about gaining friendship and losing friendship, and about life and death. Fern is an eight-year-old girl who loves to be outside in the barn with the animals, rather than playing with her friends. Her mother worries about her being alone with the animals so much to the point of even paying a visit to Dr. Dorian to discuss her actions. I love the fact that Dr. Dorian says Fern is probably saner than all of us. If we all would just be a little quieter, we too might be able to hear the animals and nature speaking to us.
“Fern came almost every day to visit him (Wilbur). She found an old milking stool that had been discarded, and she placed the stool in the sheepfold next to Wilbur’s pen. Here she sat quietly during the long afternoons, thinking and listening and watching Wilbur.”
E. B. White takes us through all the days of the year, and all the seasons with the animals on the farm.
“I heard the frogs today,” said the old sheep one evening. “Listen! You can hear them now.” Wilbur stood still and cocked his ears. From the pond, in shrill chorus, came the voices of hundreds of little frogs.
He does a perfect job of describing the animals from Wilbur the pig to Templeton the rat, the sheep, and the goose and the gander. He attempts all sorts of emotions throughout the book. His best work though is bringing Charlotte and her radiant webs of words to life. He teaches us about true friendship. He also uses the book to teach us about animals and the world. We even learn about the seven sections of each of a spider’s legs, as well as details about the kind of food each of the animals eats, and how they act.
Following the example of E. B. White, I would love to be able to write children’s books like his. Every grade school should make a book like Charlotte’s Web required reading. And if they don’t, then every parent should make it required for their children at least some time in their lives. If anyone wants to be a good writer, they need to learn it from E. B. White and Charlotte the spider.
