Charlotte's Web

See also: phonics reading list

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, is a classic tale and a superb book for early readers, preferably using a large-print, illustrated edition. The 1997 Barnes & Noble Books edition, illustrated by Garth Williams and published by an arrangement with HarperCollins Children's Books, is superb.

It contains about 32,000 words, and is rated under the Lexile measure at 680L. This book often assigned reading for the the 4th and 5th grades, but a proficient 1st or 2nd grader can work through this book with a patient instructor. At about 800 words a day, this can be completed in 40 days.

This book expressly refers to "unborn children," which has a wonderful pro-life connotation. It also contains a wise warning about how obesity shortens one's lifespan.

A few additional conservative themes are in this book, such as a mockery of how people believe whatever they read in a newspaper, and recognition of how it is an unexplained, remarkable miracle whenever a spider spins an ordinary web.

This classic is in the spirit of Aesop's Fables, with good humor that sparks laughter by young readers.

Vocabulary

• sop (used frequently to refer to food given to the pig), pronounced säp, meaning food soaked or dipped in a liquid
• scythe (Chapter 3), pronounced sithe with a long "i" and a silent "c", meaning a long curved blade attached to long stick as its handle for chopping grass, weeds, or crops
• lilac (Chapter 6, second sentence), pronounced ˈlÄ«-lahk, meaning a popular pinkish-purplish European flower named after the Greek word for pipes ("syrinks")
• spang, pronounced phonetically, is an adverb meaning directly or completely
• lee, pronounced phonetically, is a noun meaning the side sheltered from the wind

Minor criticisms

These criticisms are minor, but perhaps worth being aware of:

• this story is written from a girl's point of view, and a boy may find other stories to be more interesting or inspiring
• even after multiple editions, there are a few grammatical errors, such as two early in Chapter V (p. 34 of the large print, illustrated edition): "she sat with [a] head tucked under a wing" and "He examined the window ledge, [and] stared up at the ceiling." And again on p. 110, "None of us do [should be "does"] ...."
• excessive use of "got" rather than something more descriptive

• on p. 84: "... got right into them when he got up in the morning. ... Lurvy shaved and got a haircut ...."
• on p. 111: "... he gets into poison ivy and gets stung by wasps and bees ...."

• the vocabulary is not varied or strong, and repetition is frequent (which can be fine for an early reader)
• a reference to the "Queensborough Bridge," an unfamiliar, antiquated name for the 59th Street bridge connecting Manhattan to Queens in New York City