Middle Grade Books I Love: Charlotte's Web

Since Charlotte's Web was published in October of 1952, not many children make it through without reading this themselves or having it read to them. One day when I substituted in a first grade classroom, I was asked to read aloud from it after lunch. The part where Charlotte dies. Alone. Yes, I cried. Could barely make it through. The kids thought I was a drama-mama and very silly. Ah well. As a child, that part didn’t get me as much either. It reminded me of the time my mom tried to read me the end of Watership Down and just dissolved into sobbing. I was around 11, and she'd read it to me during one of our unending road trips during the summer. I thought she was a drama-mama then, but later I named an adopted stray cat El-ahrairah so . . . Anyhow.

Charlotte’s Web is listed as one of the top 100 most-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

The day I checked, it was ranked #487 among the over 8 million books listed on Amazon. Still selling. So maybe I don't need to even mention it in this series. But it's definitely one of my favorites, so here we are.

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.

E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.

White also wrote two other fabulous books for middle grade readers, but we'll get to those another time. I already have a guest blog in mind after seeing a post about an editor reading one of them to her daughter. 

That's what we do with books we love. Save our copies. Pass them on to our children. Read them aloud. Maybe we don't dissolve into tears. Maybe we do. 

El-ahrairah, El, or YaYa (as our toddler at the time called her) in 1991.
Yes, we have an affinity for tuxies. She was a stray found in the woods.