It is such a hard question when someone asks you to name your favorite book. I have so many and often that depends when I read the book. I feel certain that some books I liked at one time tend to have to do with when I read them, how old I was, what mood I was in…the list is endless.
Charlotte’s Web is my all time favorite. My parents read it to me when I was young. I read it in elementary school, in middle school and again in high school. I most recently read it to a class of 3rd graders. If you had seen that class sit and listen so intently, you might also think there is not a better story.
E.B. White, the author of Charlotte’s Web, grew up amidst animals and stables on a farm. His surroundings in life were much like the scenery so well described in the book. The book jacket of the newly released, The Story of Charlottes’ Web: E.B. White’s Eccentric Life in Nature and the Birth of an American Classic by Michael Sims, states that Mr. White follows the maxim “Write what you know.” Boy, does he ever? There are numerous readers who have lived on that farm with him.
It appears those that follow that bold maxim do well. John Grisham, a former lawyer, turned best seller writes legal thrillers. He writes what he knows. Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, has written five books housed in our religion section and has one on the way. He writes what he knows. Jeanette Walls, a writer and journalist, wrote The Glass Castle. A very popular memoir of Walls’ life as a child–on the go with her dysfunctional parents. She writes what she knows. Karl Marlantes most recently wrote a book about What It Is Like to Go to War. He leaves out no details-provides the reader with what he himself experienced. He writes what he knows.
That being said, books have a certain appeal when they are coming directly from the author’s being and heart. Perhaps that is why Charlotte’s Web is adored by so many. There is a sweet little farm somewhere–where the story unfolded to E.B.White.
I’m only half way through The Story of Charlotte’s Web, only half way through learning about E.B. White’s life. It is a pleasure to read. You follow every step of this little boy’s life as he becomes the man who wrote so many classics. You receive a history lesson intertwined with his life story. Follow his foot steps, see what he learns, and what he knows. -Quinn
Comments are closed.