Books by author: E. B. White

My four-year-old son is starting to have an attention span that allows me to read longer books to him in installments. I typically read to him for about thirty minutes each night just before I tuck him into bed. Over the last month or two we've read nearly all of the two original Winnie the Pooh books, but Charlotte's Web is the first chapter book we've finished.

It was a mixed success. Kevin didn't care much for Wilbur, but he couldn't wait to hear about the spider web. After the rather dark climax, we had a long discussion about death — a topic we probably could have put off for a bit.

Charlotte's Web is very good on several levels. It's written exactly as you'd expect from the coauthor of The Elements of Style — there's not a word out of place. It's exceedingly easy to read aloud, much moreso than Winnie the Pooh. The story has a terrific arc, the pacing is good, and it deals with important issues — friendship and death. The illustrations are also quite good, and they were paced well enough to keep my son engaged. Charlotte's Web is a classic for good reason.

Every night, Lisa or I read a bedtime story to Kevin. Left to his own devices, he usually wants to read a Goosebumps book or something with even less redeeming value. I have been trying off and on to introduce him to some of the classic children's chapter books, so when it's my turn to read, we usually read a few chapters from a longer book. Since Charlotte's Web was such a success, I thought we might try another of E.B. White's novels.

For the most part, Stuart Little held Kevin's attention, but it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as Charlotte. Where the language and subject matter of Charlotte's Web is almost timeless and the sentences simply roll off the tongue, Stuart Little feels very dated and awkward, both in language and content. Charlotte has a beautiful story arc that starts on page one and doesn't fully pay off until the end. Stuart winds all over the place and leaves the reader hanging at the end.