Reading Charlotte's Web as an Adult

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Date: 1952

Format: B&N collectible edition (omnibus)
How did I get this book? purchased

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

GoodReads

Charlotte's Web is one of the (many) classics I can't believe I never read as a kid. In fact, there are A LOT of classic children's books (chapter books, novels, and picture books) I "missed" growing up. Even some I may have read, I unfortunately don't recall very well. But instead of looking at them as missed chances, I'm taking the opportunity now to enjoy them as an adult -- and hopefully someday share them with my son. With that in mind, some months back, I revised my Classics Club list to focus on children's classics. Finally reading Charlotte's Web confirms this was a wise decision for me at this stage in my life.

Sure, there are plenty of more "difficult" classics I aspire to tackling someday, but that really isn't where my head is at right now. It's not just that children's classics are "easier" or shorter, though they often are -- and my tired mommy-brain is grateful! Wanting to focus on children's books is more about my frame of mind and priorities right now. Diving head first into picture books with my son as an infant, baby, and now toddler has reminded me how rich and engaging good children's literature can be. So many of these stories (and their artwork!) can be enjoyed by people of all ages, even if they aren't the first thing we might gravitate to as a "grown-ups."

My son may still be too young to appreciate a lot of the books I've been picking up lately, but that's not really the point. The point is that the more I learn about children's books, the more I want to experience them for myself and fill in some of the gaps in my own childhood reading. I know my parents took me to the library and read me picture books, but mostly I just remember reading Nancy Drew, The Babysitters Club, spooky books by Mary Downing Hahn, and the occasional school assignment I actually enjoyed, but that was later in my childhood. I remember my highschool reading vividly, but my younger years are understandably a bit foggy. So why not read those children's classics now? There is no good reason not to read them now, so that is exactly what I am doing and I'm really loving it.

The only (sort-of) downside to reading these childhood classics now is that there isn't any of the nostalgia factor. Charlotte's Web likely would have gotten 5 stars if I had read it as a child, but it was still a very well-written, engaging, and enjoyable story about friendship, determination, and loss. I never was much a fan of spiders, but this fictional tale has helped this scaredy-cat look at them a bit differently and reminded me of their purpose in the natural world. I appreciated that this story didn't sugarcoat some of the harsher realities of life and death on a farm, but it is ultimately a hopeful and uplifting book. It didn't turn me into a vegetarian, though at times I was wondering if the author was trying to! More E.B. White books are on my TBR for sure, namely Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan -- both of which are also in the omnibus edition I read Charlotte's Web from.

In addition to the story, the illustrations for Charlotte's Web are just wonderful and I am fast becoming a fan of Garth Williams' work. Our bookshelves and library basket are filling up with his many picture books and we've found a few new favorites. My son and I have both enjoyed My First Counting Book and Home for a Bunny in particular and look forward to exploring more of this prolific illustrator's books.

Classics Club #19

Reading Paddington as an Adult

As a kid, I had a Paddington Bear stuffed animal -- in fact, I do believe it's still at my parents' house! We have pictures of me carrying him around (at the park, no less!), but I don't have any memory of reading the Paddington books as a child. If we did read any of them, they likely were the picture book adaptations and not the full-length novels. The picture books are lovely -- and I have a treasury of them on my son's shelves -- but I really wanted to read Paddington's full story and experience it for myself. 

Picture Book Collection

Once I saw that the audiobook of A Bear Called Paddington was narrated by Stephen Fry, I decided to go with that format. He is such a fantastic narrator (and boy do I wish I could listen to the UK audiobooks of Harry Potter he narrates!) and delivers this classic story flawlessly. The only thing missing is the illustrations of the print edition, so I ended up getting a lovely hardcover anniversary edition for our shelves as well. I'd love to get the full series in print someday, but have held off so far since I already have the next few books queued up in my Audible library. 

First full-length novel

The second novel, More About Paddington, is the only other one narrated by Stephen Fry and that is as far as I've gotten in the series thus far. In fact, I've now read them twice and they were just as good the second time through. While the first novel is surely the most well known and widely read, the follow-up was an equally wonderful reading experience for me. Although the books are divided into chapters to be read in sequence, most feel like they can be read as their own stories as well. Particularly once you are past the initial few chapters that introduce Paddington and the Brown family, they start to read more and more like individual adventures within the established framework. I feel much the same about the Winnie-the-Pooh books, as a matter of fact.

Paddington is an endearing character and I can certainly see why his popularity has endured through the decades. He has a knack for getting himself into trouble and it's always interesting to see how he gets himself out of that trouble -- one way or another. Like many well-loved children's book characters, he means well, but mishaps, misadventures, and misunderstandings happen -- and make for great storytelling along the way. The novels are definitely still far above my son's level, but I do look forward to sharing them with him someday. In the meantime, I will continue reading/listening to the rest of the series myself and I'll have to remember to pull down our picture book versions at storytime!

Classics Club #13-14

Reading Winnie-the-Pooh as an Adult

As popular as Winnie the Pooh was when I was a kid, I never actually read any of the original stories until very recently. I remember Pooh cartoons and Pooh stickers (stickers were SUCH a thing with the girls when I was in grade school -- does anyone else remember this???) And if my parents ever read me any Pooh books, they were likely picture book adaptations.

So of all the books we received at our son's baby shower last year, I was most looking forward to reading the original Winnie-the-Pooh friends of ours gave us. And with such a beautiful edition to start our collection, I just couldn't resist adding The House at Pooh Corner as well as the two volumes of poetry When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six. I was a little amused to see two of the used copies I bought were actually inscribed because they looked like they were barely even opened, let alone read. I look forward to the day my son asks me who Rosie or Jack & Whitney are -- I don't know kid, but they were missing out on these books, I can tell you that much.

The Stories

Now, I knew Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner were not particularly short, but I was still surprised to realize they were each close to 200 pages. Both volumes are divided into 10 chapters, each of which is its own story. They are connected, but I think they could be read on their own as well. The writing style is sort of meandering which definitely took some getting used to, but I thoroughly enjoyed these stories once I got the hang of the dialogue. I struggled a bit reading them aloud, so it's good my son is a bit too young to notice! These are true classics that I know I will reread more than once. In fact, I've already listened to the first volume on audiobook. The professional narrator did a much better job than I did for sure! The Piglet noises were a little jarring, but the audio does bring the characters and stories to life. Between reading and listening, it is so clear to me now how the cartoon versions of these characters evolved from the source material.

The Poems

As for Milne's poetry, I didn't know much at all beforehand except that When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six are part of the Pooh collection. Now having read them, I think that's actually a bit of a stretch. Pooh and Christopher Robin make a few appearances, but that's about it. The majority of the poems have nothing to do with Pooh and cover a variety of other topics. They were still enjoyable, but not quite what I was expecting. I think they will only improve with rereading because I'll know better what I'm getting myself into. Also, I know I have a tendency to rush through poetry, so I'm certain there is more to appreciate in these volumes than I absorbed the first time around.

Now that I have read these four, I'm on the fence about trying The Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. It is a companion volume written 80 years after The House at Pooh Corner by another author, but supposedly captures the style of the originals in a series of new adventures. If any Pooh aficionados have an opinion one way or the other, please let me know what you think! And of course, I'm intrigued by the Winnie the Pooh cookbook, but maybe I'll just see if the library has that one.

Classics Club #9-12