The 306 Greatest Books #93 - Charlotte's Web

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is Charlotte's Web by E. B. White. This book can be found on the Observer Book list.

This story goes way back for me. I remember growing up and watching the cartoon but I don't believe I ever read the book outright. I read it this time with my daughter and I realized that I would prefer to stick with the cartoon. The sentence structure is often very difficult to read and, I don't know about other books, but reading this out-loud I noticed a ton of "said so and so" after someone said something. This type of writing can get rather tiring after a while and really destroys the flow of a good book. Also, this book reminded me of why I like the Dahl books; it was because of the language. Dahl has a habit of using large words in context, words that you wouldn't usually find in a children's book. In Charlotte's Web, White also uses some large words but it is immediately followed by "I don't know what that means, what does that mean?". That is great for teaching children new words, but I prefer the other method. If you use the word in context well enough, you don't have to explain the meaning. So all in all, it is a touching story, and I did tear up a little at the end, but I wouldn't really recommend this to other people to read.