Quinn Dennehy

E.B. White is a genious. Such an amazing story that captures the complexities of love and the struggle to fit in. I was surprised that as a 30 year old, I could be touched so deeply again by a children's story about a pig and a spider. The relationship development between Wilbur and Charlotte is nuanced and sophisticated, and peppered with complex adult emotions of sacrifice and loss. What a great novel to revisit and remind myself what friendship and love are all about!

Posted : Apr 09, 2015 12:08

Sara Gordon

To be perfectly honest, I made it through the first 154 pages yesterday and had to stop. I knew what was going to happen, but I wanted to hold onto the happiness and peace for one more day. It might sound corny, but I felt so comfortable and joyful reading this book and I really needed that. At the same time, I am a very emotional, sensitive person, and I knew how upsetting it would be when Charlotte died. I actually spoke to my own second-grade teacher last night, who confirmed that she had read this book to our class, and that she always tears up when she gets to the end as well. Reading it as an adult, however, I felt like the "buildup" to Charlotte's death was a lot more gentle and slow, probably because I noticed her getting older and more tired in ways I did not see as a 7-year-old, when her death seemed shocking, and because I was looking for those details this time around. Like Stacey, I want to say thank you, Lolly and Maleka, for giving us the opportunity to connect with this book again in a whole different way, while still giving ourselves permission to connect to it emotionally.

Posted : Apr 08, 2015 06:39

Stacey Kahn

Reading Charlotte's Web again was an emotional experience. On the one hand, I knew what was coming, though I hadn't read the book (or seen the 1970s cartoon movie version) in years. On the other hand, I was reading this from an adult perspective for the first time, which I've found allows me to catch things and pick up on subtleties I didn't obviously detect as a child. This second reading, for me, allowed me to appreciate how beautiful the quietness of the text is - even during the big events of the story, there is a subdued quality to the writing, perhaps even mimetic of Charlotte's calm yet warm demeanor. E.B. White renders his characters lovingly while showing us how beautiful life is, even though, as Charlotte says, "we're born, we live a little while, we die." I don't remember what my reaction to this was a child - I think I cried at the death of Charlotte, and reading this as an adult certainly made me sad about Charlotte again. But when I reached the end of this book, and cried, it wasn't for Charlotte's death. It was for how E.B. White so carefully touched on the beauty and fragility of living, and I thought of how this might be a such a gentle and appropriate conversation starter for that oft discussed topic of getting children acquainted with the notion of death. It was nice to meet my childhood self halfway in the reading of this book, and so a perfect way to end my reading experiences in this module. Thanks, Lolly and Maleka!

Posted : Apr 08, 2015 02:56