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A review by thereadingmum
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
"It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both."
Ashamedly, this is the first time I've read this book. However, the movie, watched as a child, is a big reason for my love of animals and eventually becoming a vegetarian. The book is almost exactly like the movie with some slight differences. It has all the same feels though.
It starts with young Fern, a girl on a farm, who cannot bear the thought of a piglet being killed just for being a runt. She had rears him for over a month until his father sells him to her uncle down the road. There, a similar fate awaits Wilbur except for the intervention and fierce friendship of a spider who spends a large part of her short life saving his.
I was a little peeved at the part where Uncle, another pig, won the prize at the fair and everyone was stunned with disappointment and Fern asked her mother for money so she could run off with a boy to the ferris wheel. However, on reflection, I think she saw Charlotte's final message written in her web and knew that Wilbur would be okay and she didn't have to worry about him anymore. Or at least that's what I'd like to think. Movie Fern is a lot more caring of Wilbur right to the end.
The last chapter describing Wilbur's life in the barn just makes me wonder how human beings can subject such intelligent creatures to such horrible conditions. I will never regret not being party to that industry anymore.
This is a quiet classic without any of the usual bells, but still endearing nevertheless.
Ashamedly, this is the first time I've read this book. However, the movie, watched as a child, is a big reason for my love of animals and eventually becoming a vegetarian. The book is almost exactly like the movie with some slight differences. It has all the same feels though.
It starts with young Fern, a girl on a farm, who cannot bear the thought of a piglet being killed just for being a runt. She had rears him for over a month until his father sells him to her uncle down the road. There, a similar fate awaits Wilbur except for the intervention and fierce friendship of a spider who spends a large part of her short life saving his.
I was a little peeved at the part where Uncle, another pig, won the prize at the fair and everyone was stunned with disappointment and Fern asked her mother for money so she could run off with a boy to the ferris wheel. However, on reflection, I think she saw Charlotte's final message written in her web and knew that Wilbur would be okay and she didn't have to worry about him anymore. Or at least that's what I'd like to think. Movie Fern is a lot more caring of Wilbur right to the end.
The last chapter describing Wilbur's life in the barn just makes me wonder how human beings can subject such intelligent creatures to such horrible conditions. I will never regret not being party to that industry anymore.
This is a quiet classic without any of the usual bells, but still endearing nevertheless.