Charlotte's Web

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Product Details

Author : E.B. White
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 9780807208526
Edition : Unabridged
Product Group : Book
Publication Date : 2002-05-14
Publisher : Listening Library (Audio)
Reading Level : Ages 9-12
Release Date : 2002-05-14

ASIN : 0807208523

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Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com

An affectionate, sometimes bashful pig named Wilbur befriends a spider named Charlotte, who lives in the rafters above his pen. A prancing, playful bloke, Wilbur is devastated when he learns of the destiny that befalls all those of porcine persuasion. Determined to save her friend, Charlotte spins a web that reads "Some Pig," convincing the farmer and surrounding community that Wilbur is no ordinary animal and should be saved. In this story of friendship, hardship, and the passing on into time, E.B. White reminds us to open our eyes to the wonder and miracle often found in the simplest of things.

Customer Reviews

Marvel of Literature (2008-02-04)

E. B. White spins a wonderful tale aboout a little girl called Fern, a lovable pig named Wilbur, and a wise old spider known as Charlotte. This magical, classic story explores the pivotal moments of growing up on a farm. From the start, the reader is entranced by Fern's wholehearted rescue of Wilbur, and is transported to a barnyard world of talking animals. Charlotte and Wilbur become fast friends and E. B. White cleverly maneuvres between the mystical quality of talking animals and the practical life on the farm as the story unfolds on many levels creating a straightforward, yet sophisticated theme. The reading audience is treated, with marvelous wit, to 'gaa, gaa, gaaing geese, a wiry old rat, Templeton, and a host of other farm animal characters.Wonderful, wonderful story; great for 4-year old to adult. I loved it! Can I give it 6 stars?

Story of frienships and love (2007-05-08)

Charlotte's Web is a wonderufl tale of a young girl, her precious pig Wilbur, and a wonderful spider. The book is a beautiful story of friendship, love, and loyalty. It is a tender story of a lovely young girl and a very smart spider who together instill self esteem and dignity in their friend Wilbur. It truly is a book of life, in that all of the animal characters mirror people in this world who face the challenge of living their lives each day. It reminds me very much of a great series of children's books titled "Why some cats are rascals". In that three-book series the heroic cats also live their lives like humans. Both titles belong to my Top Ten Read-Aloud list.

Great book to read aloud to your children (2005-08-07)

My 4 yr old daughter absolutely adored this book. It began as a story read at bedtime, but after the second chapter my daughter begged to have it read at breakfast, in the afternoon and after dinner! It was a fast and easy read with plenty of opportunity to discuss the principle themes of friendship, love, loyalty, and the 'circle of life'. Enjoy!

A Great Book about Friendship (2004-06-17)

I must confess that having just read "Animal Farm" shortly before reading this book, I was a little hesitant about excepting this as a pure children's story without any hidden political agenda. I kept expecting the talking animals to rise up behind the pig and take over the farm. Rest assured however there was none of that, as E.B. White does a good job of keeping the story at a purely kids level.

Wilber is the runt in a litter of pigs, and Mr. Arable the farmer is going to take him out back and have him slaughtered since as he says, "He is small and weak and will never amount to anything." His young daughter Fern who is eight, hears this and requests that her father give the pig to her to raise instead. The father wishing to prove a point to her, allows this so long as she promises to do all the work to take care of it. To Mr. Arable's surprise Fern does an excellent job of raising Wilber and he turns out to be "Some Pig", proving that even though he was very small he still could amount to something.

As Wilber grows bigger the Arable's can no longer support feeding him, so Mr. Arable has Fern sell Wilber to her uncle Mr. Zuckerman who has a farm down the road. There she goes and visits Wilber every day. Being young I guess gives you the ability to sit and listen to the animals more intently than adults, and by doing so Fern is able to hear that the animals can actually talk and she understands them. (Being the father of two girls who are 7 and 5, I'd have to disagree somewhat with this logic as my girls never sit still, and certainly have a hard time listening at times, but for the sake of the story we'll just give them the benefit of the doubt.)

Anywise Wilber meets all the other animals in the barn who are very nice, but none of them are really his close friend. He becomes lonely and wishes for a friend. A gray spider named Charlotte answers his prayers and after introducing herself, she becomes Wilber's best friend.

When the other animals tell Wilber that Mr. Zuckerman is just fatting him up to eat him for Christmas, this makes him greatly disturbed. Charlotte being a great friend promises to do all she can to make Wilber so important to Mr. Zuckerman that he would change his mind. She sets a plan in action to weave messages into her web proclaiming how great the pig is, and by doing so she hopes to trick the adults into believing it as well. With the help of Templeton the rat she obtains some newspaper clippings and begins her work.

Each new message in the web is looked upon as miracle, but rather than looking for any religious connection, the folks in the town just believe they have a very famous pig on their hands and accept it at face value.

The suspense builds as Zuckerman takes Wilber to the Fair. If he can just win an award there, Charlotte knows his life will be saved. Charlotte and Templeton have to stow away in Wilber's crate just to accompany him to the Fair, and then when they get there the pig in the stall next to Wilber is twice as big and looks to be a shoe in for first prize.

This book was obviously written at a much simpler time in history. At the Fair grounds the adults send the kids off on their own. Besides Fern who is 8, she has a little brother Avery who is only 5. After giving them all kinds of warnings such as not to eat too much, and to stay out of the sun, to not get dirty, and to be careful on the rides, the mother stops and says to the husband, "Do you think they'll be all right?" and he responds, "Well they have to grow up sometime." (None of the warnings were about staying away from strangers.) Of course when the kids returned they hadn't stayed out of the sun and were hot, and completely dirty, but they had fun.

Fern meets a boy at the Fair, and starts to grow up a bit as playing with him starts to seem like more fun than talking to bunch of animals.

It is a great book about overcoming obstacles even though you are very small, growing up, and most of all friendship. My girls loved the book as well, and especially seemed to like the illustrations by Garth Williams.

Quality literature for children (2004-06-05)

A spider saves the life of a friendly pig by spinning accolades about him in her web, thereby producing a miracle that impresses people for miles around. This is a beautifully written little story for children that has real literary quality. The prose is excellent. Note in particular the simple but lovely descriptions of the passing seasons that Mr. White writes. The themes include friendship, coping with the loss of loved ones, and the realization that life goes on, changed but still worth living.

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