(You can listen to this episode here.)

For this episode, we reread E.B. White’s 1952 classic Charlotte’s Web, one of the most beloved children’s books of all time. We enjoyed revisiting Wilbur, Fern, Charlotte, and the underrated Templeton the Rat.

Mentioned on this episode:

Other books by E.B. White:

Stuart Little (1945)

The Trumpet of the Swan (1970)

The Elements of Style, with William Strunk Jr. (1959)

Is Sex Necessary?, with James Thurber (1929)

Essays of E.B. White (1977)

Letters of E.B. White (1976)

Boo at the Zoo event, National Zoo

Also mentioned:

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

Post on Henry Fussy from the blog Naomi Loves

“Garth Williams, Illustrator of American Childhood,” by Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, June 3, 2016

Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, edited by Leonard Marcus (1998)

Goodreads reviews of Charlotte’s Web

The Story of Charlotte’s Web: E.B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic, Michael Sims (2011)

“Death of a Pig” by E.B. White, The Atlantic, January 1948 (paywalled)

Archy and Mehitabel by Don Marquis (1927)

Eudora Welty’s New York Times review of Charlotte’s Web, October 19, 1952

Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark (1952)

Mary Grace’s blog post on children’s librarian Annie Carroll Moore

Boo at the Zoo event, National Zoo

Recommended for fans of Charlotte’s Web: Anne of Green Gables and Caddie Woodlawn (Mary Grace); Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, Misty of Chincoteague, and The Cricket in Times Square (Deborah)

Charlotte’s Web, 1973 movie (trailer here)

Charlotte’s Web, 2006 movie (trailer here)

Charlotte’s Web, 2025 miniseries (trailer here)

Other Rereading Our Childhood episodes:

Rereading Stuart Little by E.B. White

Rereading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Rereading The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars

Rereading Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

The podcast is hosted by Buzzsprout at rereadingourchildhood.buzzsprout.com and is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

You can find Deborah at deborahkalb.com and Mary Grace’s adventures in the 1920s at My Life 100 Years Ago.

This episode was edited by Adam Linder of Bespoken Podcasting.