Charlotte's Web

San Jose State University

LIBR 268: History of Youth Literature

Instructor: Melba Tomeo

Summer 2015

Melody Sawyer

Garth Williams/HarperCollins

Within the pages of this site you will find an analysis of Charlotte's Web for Library 268: History of Youth Literature final project. This is an analysis of why Charlotte's Web is listed as number 1 in the Top 100 children’s novels. This was quite an accomplishment for the author E.B. White. It is an exploration of Charlotte's Web's continued popularity with children and adults from 1952 through today. This book has been translated into many different languages and captured the hearts of audiences from around the world. This celebrated book was made into an animated feature film in 1973 and a feature film in 2000.

Along came a Spider

"What this book is about is friendship on earth, affection and protection, adventure and Miracle, life and death, trust and treachery, pleasure and pain, and the passing of time. As a piece of work it is just about perfect, and just about magical in the way it is done" (Welty, 1952).

New York Times Book Review

"If I were asked to put one book in a space capsule to send to some far-off galaxy to evoke life in all its complicity, I would send White's masterpiece about friendship, loss, resignation and mortality" (Ciabattari, 2015).

NPR's Maureen Corrigan

“It was the first book in which I encountered mortality, legacy and love that transcended differences.” (Ciabattari, 2015).

Author and Critic Rigoberto González

Rave Reviews

“Not just about loyalty and friendship, this perfect book is an introduction to metaphor – the barnyard as life” (Ciabattari, 2015).

Chicago Tribune literary editor-at-large Elizabeth Taylor

"I know, I know. It’s so predictable but I loved this book as a kid (despite having a terrible fear of spiders) and still love it as an adult. It has changed and grown with me—and isn’t that the testament of something that is truly great? As a kid I saw it as a book about friendship and now I see it is a book about loss. It’s deep stuff. And nothing is better than the audiobook read by E.B. White. I like to have it on in the background while I do mundane things like clean and fold laundry, hoping that I will absorb some of his genius" (Bird, 2012).

Sharon Ozimy

“White managed to write a children’s book that encompasses mortality, friendship, and the power of the written word — amazing” (Ciabattari, 2015).

Critic Heller McAlpin