Charlotte's Web

Book: Charlotte's Web
Author: E.B. White

Illustrator: Garth Williams
Genre: Fantasy
Major Awards: Newbery Honor Book
Age Group: 2nd - 5th 
Summary: 

Wilbur, a little pig, was just born and right after Papa Arable wants to kill him because he was the smallest of the bunch. A little girl, Fern, comes along to save him from being turned into bacon and he ends up living. Wilbur is raised by Fern and taken to the farm that is down the road. During his time there, he makes lots of animal friends, notably a spider named Charlotte. Wilbur is still afraid that he'll get killed in the future by Papa Arable and the other owners, so Charlotte decided to make a plan that will save Wilbur. Charlotte decides to spin words into her web to show that Wilbur is not an ordinary pig. One day, Mr. Zuckerman comes to the farm and sees the words that Charlotte spun for Wilbur, thought that he had one special pig, and decided Wilbur would still not be eaten. They decide to take him (Wilbur) to the County Fair which makes everybody excited. Charlotte and Templeton, the rat who runs errands for Charlotte, tag along in the box so that Charlotte can spin more words in the web for Wilbur. She decides to spin the word "humble" that perfectly describes Wilbur. Wilbur soon finds out that Charlotte is going to have her babies at the fair and soon after seems like she's going to start dying from exhaustion. He takes Charlotte and her babies back to the barn and soon after, Charlotte dies and everybody misses her. Wilbur thinks that he will be alone now that Charlotte had died, but that was not the case. When Charlotte's eggs hatched, all of them liked Wilbur a lot and that made Wilbur very happy. In the end, Wilbur was really happy that Charlotte saved his life and he isn't going to be lonely a day in his life. 

Evaluation & Comments:

I chose to listen to the audiobook version of Charlotte's Web narrated by E.B. White and George Plimpton. I'm not really a huge fan of listening to audiobooks because I like to create a movie in my head while I'm reading the words on the page. I feel like when I was listening to the audiobook, I found myself getting distracted or dozing off while I was listening to it. If I read the book in front of me while I was listening to it, maybe I would have liked it more with a different audiobook edition. That could be something I do with my chapter books in class in the future!  

I know there is a movie version of Charlotte's Web that was made in 2006. After reading this book, and maybe listening to it at the same time, I thought that I could show the movie after we finished discussing the important details of the book so that it would be easier to spot out the comparisons between the movie and the book. I think I would only play the audiobook version for my auditory learners while they were reading the book so that they can internalize the story better. I remember some of my teachers would play it in the background while we were reading the book so that we were able to hear the different tones and emotions that were being expressed in the dialogue. 

As for activities, I would do the comparing and contrasting between the book and the movie and maybe study questions for comprehension of the book as I am distributing the books in the beginning. It would be a great idea if this book were to be read before a state fair or something along those lines because one of the characters in the book go to a fair and that could be a connection. Another activity I thought would be interesting was with arts and crafts. The students would be given a copy paper, white oil pastel, and dark watercolor paint. Have them draw a big spider web with the oil pastel and then paint it with watercolor. Once it's done drawing and the paint is still wet, the teacher will sprinkle salt on it. As soon as it is done drying, wipe off the salt and it's done! 

This is a great book that teaches about the power of friendship and I would love to use it in my classroom!