Would it surprise you to hear that I never read this book until college? I had no idea that it used to be the book every first grade teacher read to her class, and is now pretty standard for kindergarten teachers. It really is a great book! It has an interesting plot, including good and evil and cleverness (and vocabulary!), yet it still maintains a sweetness and innocence which is becoming a thing of the past for the little guys. I won't go into the ins and outs of the actual story, since most of you probably already know it, but I have to say, I really enjoy the descriptions in the book. Even without Garth Williams' classic illustrations, you can just imagine what Fern looks like feeding the pig, Wilbur, from a bottle. You can practically see Templeton's bulging body after gorging himself with loads of
I guess it comes down to this: it's a well-written, classic book that kids of today still enjoy! It also has a great ending...unlike this book review. Try it with your kids...they'll love it!
Despite the very sad part(s), this is one of my favorite books. We used it in third grade. We listened to it on tape after Big Brother read it for himself. Talk about having a "family moment" . . . when Charlotte . . . oh, my . . . I won't spoil it for any of you who haven't read it yet . . . well, we pulled through it, as a family, but it was a rough few moments (ha, ha) !!!
ReplyDeleteI love this book! I love the name Charlotte too. Another author you may enjoy is Eleanor Estes. She wrote in the 1950's. Her books often spring from incidents in her own childhood. Also, you might want to check the book "The Saturdays" (sorry, the author's name escapes me just now). Treasure this time. It goes too fast.
ReplyDeleteWe did this book as a read aloud this last summer. My kids, ages 4 and 2 at the time, loved the book and all of the large words that Charlotte liked to use.
ReplyDeleteEvery spider we see is now named Charlotte.