Charlotte's Web by EB White

9/10

Fern Arable lives with her mother, father and brother on their small farm. When her father decides to ‘do away’ with the runt of the piglet litter Fern takes it upon herself to raise the small piglet herself and names him Wilbur. When Wilbur gets too big for the Arable’s land he goes to live with the Zuckerman’s, Fern’s Aunt and Uncle, in their barn where Fern can visit the pig she has grown to love. Although Fern visits as much as she can, she and Wilbur are not together as often. Wilbur starts to feel quite lonely in the big barn, that is until he meets Charlotte, a beautiful big grey spider who lives above Wilbur in the doorway of the barn. Wilbur and Charlotte soon become firm friends and when the old sheep tells of the plot the Zuckerman’s have to fatten Wilbur up for their Christmas dinner Charlotte hatches a plan to save Wilbur’s life that amazes and astounds the whole town!

A book that children can fall in love with. There is such affection and humour in this story and the characters are so well written, including not so loveable rogue Templeton the rat but it is Charlotte you can’t help but love and admire. It shows children what true friendship is and that nothing else is quite as important as the love and loyalty of a best friend.

The illustrations by Garth Williams also add to the enjoyment to the story and are not so frequent as to be intrusive.

The main message of the book remains timeless but there are some passages where the language and references have dated a little, which has been reflected in the score but overall this should not detract from any child’s enjoyment of the story and this is a book I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Unashamedly sentimental, this book leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Review by

20 positive reader review(s) for Charlotte's Web

EB White biography

Charlotte's Web reader reviews

from USA

So sad and nice and sweet.
10/10 ()

from India

Very good.
10/10 ()

from Bahrain

It is an amazing book to read. I read this book for many days and this is my most favourite book.
10/10 ()

from India

I LOVED THIS BOOK BUT BTW I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT someone actually asked us people the answer for their project!
10/10 ()

from UK

This book is fantastic!!!! My faviourite characters are Charlotte, Wilbur and Fern. this book is super super fun and touch, though. this is the second best book I had read!!!
10/10 ()

from Canada

Great book!
10/10 ()

from Illinios, US

The book left me with a different feeling about spiders and how amazing they could be and it just changed how I see animals now. I have been a vegetarian for 3 years now and my friends told me that after reading this book that they see why I became vegetarian in the 1st place. I feel like people who aren't vegetarian are sick because they enjoy eating animals when they are being taken out of their home and killed for us to enjoy. So if you aren't vegetarian then just remember that means that you enjoy eating suffered and killed animals. So in all you enjoy it when people go and just kill these poor animals and take them away from their families and their home. How would you like it if animals did that to you. Would you like it if animals took us away from our families and friends and home, just for them to enjoy us. So next time you go to eat meat think about what I just asked you.
10/10 ()

from India

Very good read .šŸ˜
10/10 ()

from Hong Kong

It is an interesting book and it's worth reading. We can understand more about how to communicate with others.
9/10 ()

from Bangladesh

I really enjoyed reading the book. It makes us understand what friendship is.
10/10 ()

from No

I loved the review and found it so amusing at parts the book was an absolute blast and I am not the type of person known for reading. I love the beautiful drawings incorporated with the creative way E.B White words the whole story and then strings it together with creative and imaginative twists. The story really gets you to step inside Wilbur's [the pigs] shoes. The story gets you to really understand the everyday life of a pig. The story also gets you to see how phenomenal the spiders web is. You would think that this outstanding book would be forgotten because of the 21st century books, but it holds its own and is even better and informative than the books now!
8/10 ()

from US

It's a great book. It's the end which made me sad. I only read this book for school, I normally won't read books but this one I fell in love with! I really like it and the movie!!
8/10 ()

from Myanmar

This book is amazing, it gives the moral about life, death, and friendship. It is perfect for kids, teens and adults even. It is even more interesting because animals are included and Fern knows what animals in the barn are talking about.
10/10 ()

from Pakistan

I loved this book because of the message and the humor and all the things in the story including the part when wilbur was at fern's home and the things they did together
10/10 ()

from India

Fantastic book my sis and bros.
10/10 ()

from India

It's a very good book not too boring like many of the others I read. Well finding a spider like that is nearly not possible but a friend like is also not like that.. NšŸ˜ŠšŸ˜Š
10/10 ()

from India

Great book.
10/10 ()

from UK

This is a great book. It’s a book for all ages, the young and old. I highly recommend this book.
10/10 ()

from India

Sweet ,sober , interesting and meaningful
10/10 ()

from India

Awesome.
10/10 ()

from Gauteng,South Africa

Oh! Wow... This book is AWESOME ...I like it... I loved every moment of this book , I would recommend this book to any reader over 10 or 11 . I give this book 10 over 10 as it was great..
10/10 ()

from OK

I love the book.
10/10 ()

from Tamil Nadu

This book was awesome... I really like this book. Yes, of course through this we learn lots of things.... plz anyone do one favour for me... I took this book for my project I almost complete but now I'm confusing about conclusion can u help for me?
9/10 ()

from New York

Charlotte's Web is a book you must read. It shows the true meaning of friends, loyalty, and trust. I also I liked the movie.
10/10 ()

from US

This the best. It is nice to read about a runty pig that grows and finds a friend!!
10/10 ()

from Hong Kong

Great. Awesome!
9/10 ()

from Buffalo

I need to find out if Charlottes Web is fantasy or myth legend fairy tale.
9/10 ()

from Ohio, US

This book is about a pig named Wilbur and he is going to get killed in the winter and his friend Charlotte saves his life this is the real meaning of friendship. Read Charlotte's Web.
10/10 ()

from New Delhi

Awesome.
9/10 ()

from England

You should check out this book - it is about a fantastic pig and a spider. I especially like the movie.
10/10 ()

from Shawnee, KS, USA

The story, the writing, and the emotional, inevitable ending all spoke to me as a child, and this is a book that pleases adults as well. One of its greatest treasures is the permission it gives for kids to be alone, unstructured, whiling away the hours as Fern does in the barnyard. Fern's mother is so sure there's something wrong with her--but she's perfectly right. Kids need to hear that today, too. Life isn't all homework and music lessons and sports practices and texting. Sometimes it's just letting your imagination soar.
10/10 ()

9.7/10 from 32 reviews

All EB White Reviews