Charlotte's Web

EB White’s enduring children’s novel ‘Charlotte’s Web’ is a story which has been entertaining children since it was first published in 1952. Though the story is now quite dated – its themes of friendship and strength of character are as relevant to children today as ever.

White tells the story of a pig called Wilbur – who is born on a farm and is the runt of his litter. Wilbur faces being killed, but is saved by the farmer’s daughter Fern, who begs her father not to kill the piglet.  Fern raises Wilbur until her father insists that he is sold. Wilbur moves to a neighbouring farm and spends many happy days there and makes many friends – in particular a grey lady spider named Charlotte. It is Wilbur’s friendship with Charlotte that eventually saves him from becoming Christmas dinner.

The book touches on many subjects - some which could be considered confronting, however White treats these matters discretely and in a gentle, honest manner.  For example; while death is   recurring subject in the story – it is portrayed as a natural part of the life cycle; reinforcing the idea that one ending signifies another new beginning (eg. when Charlotte dies of old age, her children are born into the world). The anthropomorphic/fantasy style that the book is written in also helps to ease the seriousness of the themes.

I found this book very enjoyable and I think that it would really engage children around the 9-12 age group. The language used in the text could make it challenging for some readers – however it also provides some excellent opportunities for expanding vocabulary. The book includes some slightly dated wording, however it is not dated to an extent that affects relevance or meaning .

I would use this book in middle to upper primary classrooms – as a starting point for discussions on friendship, loyalty and in particular the complexity of characters (eg. not all characters are simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’).