This Children’s Day, I picked up the American classic Charlotte’s Web by E B White, recommended for kids 7+. And I was in for a surprise.
A book about selfless friendship and mortality, it is the story of the pig Wilbur, a runt who is about to literally get the axe from farmer John Arable. Eight-year-old Fern Arable saves Wilbur from an untimely death and raises him until the time comes to send him to neighbour Zuckerman’s barn.
The central character of the story, Wilbur–a spring pig, as he is called in the book, has long eyelashes, loves sleeping, digging, eating slops and playing in warm, moist mud. However, life inside the barn starts to bore him as he craves for a friend to talk to and play with. On a dark rainy day after he gets turned down by the rat, the goose and the lamb, he throws himself in his manure–sobbing, friendless and dejected. As the barn gets darker, Charlotte the spider comes to his rescue and offers to be his friend.
White tells a fantastic, heart-warming story of friendship between a pig and a spider. Given that it is a children’s book, the language is simple throughout. White spins an inspiring tale with profound insights hidden in humorous, guileless banter between animals. What appeals most to the reader are the beautiful illustrations that add life to the already magical story. The barn animals, the children, the adult characters and the barn itself come alive within the sketches.
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