Charlotte's Web
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| Author | E. B. White |
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| Illustrator | Garth Williams |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's literature |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Released | 1952 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 192 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-06-028298-3 |
Charlotte's Web is a children's book by acclaimed American author E. B. White, first published in 1952, it tells the story of a barn spider named Charlotte and her friendship with a pig named Wilbur. It was illustrated by Garth Williams.
Publishers Weekly lists the book as the best-selling children's paperback of all time.[1]
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[edit] Plot
This book is about a little girl, called Fern "The Pig Saver" Arable, who is an ordinary farm girl. One day, her father’s sow gave birth to some piglets, Fern's father discovered one of them was a runt and decided to kill it. However, Fern wanted to let it live. Therefore her father had no choice but to give it to Fern as a pet, and she named the runt Wilbur.
He is hyperactive and always exploring new things. At first, he lived with Fern until he was about 5 weeks old. Then he was sold to the Zuckermans for 6 dollars. He was reasonably happy on the Zuckermans' farm. However, day after day, he was getting lonelier, and wept as he missed the times he had with Fern. Immediately after, a warm and soothing voice told him that she was going to be his friend. So the next day, he woke up and saw his new friend dangling in front of him: Charlotte the grey spider. Thereafter, they talked to each other and commented on each other’s personality to pass time.
After an old sheep told him that he was going to be killed and eaten, he cried again. He did not want to die and Charlotte thought of an idea to save Wilbur from his fate. She spun some words on her web, so Wilbur would be famous, a famous pig would not be killed. Thanks to Charlotte’s great idea, Wilbur was not killed. However, in the end, Charlotte died at the carnival alone. Before that, Wilbur repaid Charlotte by bringing the sack of eggs she had laid before dying back from the carnival with him.
[edit] Writing style
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Written in White's dry, low-key manner, Charlotte's Web is considered a classic of children's literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. The description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an oft-cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing.
[edit] Sales and recognition
Aside from its paperback sales, Charlotte's Web is 78th on the all-time hardback list. According to publicity for the 2006 film adaptation (see below), the book has sold more than 45 million copies and been translated into 23 languages. It is a Newbery Honors book for 1953, losing out to Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark for the medal.
In 1970, White won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, a major prize in the field of children's literature, for Charlotte's Web along with his first children's book, Stuart Little, published in 1945.
[edit] Film adaptations
[edit] 1973 version
The book was adapted into an animated feature by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Sagittarius Productions in 1973. The film, distributed to theatres by Paramount Pictures on February 22, 1973, is one of only two Hanna-Barbera features not based upon one of their television cartoons—Heidi's Song (1982) being the other—and was a moderate critical and commercial success. The animated version was a musical film with lyrics and music by the Sherman Brothers, who had previously been responsible for the music in the family films Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968).
[edit] 2003 version
This is the sequel of the 1973 movie, released directly to video by Paramount Pictures.
[edit] 2006 version
Paramount Pictures, with Walden Media, Kerner Entertainment Company, and Nickelodeon Movies, produced a live-action/animated film, starring Dakota Fanning as Fern. It was released on December 15, 2006. Special effects were by Fuel International, Digital Pictures Iloura, Proof (studio), Rhythm and Hues Studios, Rising Sun Pictures, and Tippett Studio [1].
[edit] Trivia
- Charlotte gives her full name as "Charlotte A. Cavatica", revealing her as a barn spider, an orb-weaver spider with the scientific name Araneus cavaticus.
[edit] Charlotte's Web in popular culture
- In an episode of The Simpsons, when Homer goes to clean the garage, he sprays a spider poison called Charlotte's Dead. This is a joking reference to Charlotte's Web.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Charlotte's Web at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Charlotte's Web Summary. See characters in Charlotte's Web for additional references.
