Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

This is a fictional book about Wilbur, the smallest out of a litter of piglets on the Arable farm.

Synopsis:

Wilbur is the smallest of a litter of piglets on the Arable farm and is given to Fern to raise, and Fern quickly bonds with Wilbur and treats him as her pet. However, Wilbur grows too big so Fern’s father sells him to her Uncle Homer and Aunt Edith so Fern visits his farm every day to spend time with Wilbur and the other barn animals.

One day, the ram tells Wilbur that Homer is raising him to eventually slaughter and eat, and Wilbur is distraught. He meets Charlotte, the spider, who promises to help find a way to save Wilbur’s life. She starts weaving words and phrases into her web to make Wilbur famous so he will not be killed, and he becomes a tourist attraction.

Eventually, Wilbur is entered in the county fair and wins a special prize so Homer will keep him on the farm and never kill him. Charlotte dies of natural causes and Wilbur becomes a caretaker to Charlotte’s children.

Review:

I also loved this book and loved the friendship between Charlotte and Wilbur.

Some of the themes I noticed in this book were death, change in both the human world and the barn/farm world, and Fern and Wilbur’s loss of innocence.

“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.”

“After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die.”

It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.

None of the new spiders ever quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.