Charlotte's Web

E.M. White (author)

Penguin Books, 2003; 173pp

ISBN: 9780141317342

Genres: allegory, animal stories, classics, fantasy

Issues: communication, environment, friendship, grief/loss, identity

The story of a very special pig, Wilbur, and a very special spider, Charlotte, who saves his life. A classic tale of farm life, loyalty and friendship set in rural America.

Wilbur is a small suckling pig who is destined for the meat market. Fern, the young girl who lives on the farm, doesn't want Wilbur to die, but knows better than to fight the rural way of life. Charlotte, the spider, knows the ways of men and it is her cunning, as well as her tremendous skill at creating her webs, that finally alerts the farm community to the very unusual pig they have in their midst.

Very much an allegorical tale about the human tendency to take for granted the remarkable nature of our world, Charlotte's Web challenges the reader to be observant, use their imaginations and appreciate both the daily wonders around them and the value of those who are different.

Often studied in Year 4, this narrative is much loved by children everywhere and there's now a great film of the same name.