Charlotte’s Web
Recommended for Grades 3-6
Book Summary: Charlotte’s Web
Charlotte’s Web is the story of a pig named Wilbur. When Wilbur was born, he
was the runt of the litter. He was going to be killed until a little girl named Fern saw her
father with an axe and stopped him. She bottle fed Wilbur until he was bigger and
stronger. Soon Wilbur was too big for their family to keep. He was sold to her uncle who
had a farm just down the road.
Wilbur enjoyed his new life there until he found out that they were fattening him
up so they could kill and eat him. He starts to panic until a spider named Charlotte tells
him not to worry. She promises she will keep him from being killed. She starts writing
words in her web about how great Wilbur is. People from all over come to see this him.
[SPOILER] They take Wilbur to a county fair and he is awarded a special prize. By now,
they think Wilbur is so great that they decide they can never kill him. Everything seems
perfect for Wilbur until Charlotte tells him that she won’t be returning to the farm with
him. She is dying. Wilbur is crushed. He brings her egg sac back to the farm and keeps
watch over her eggs. Charlotte dies at the fairgrounds. Soon the spiders hatch and Wilbur
is happy again… until he finds out the spiders are leaving. Almost all of them float away,
but three stay to be friends with Wilbur.
Author Biography: E. B. White
Elwyn Brooks White was born in July 11, 1899. He was the youngest of six
children. He grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He was very shy and preferred
nature to school.
After high school, Elwyn went to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where
he worked on the student news paper. He soon became the editor and classmates gave
him the nickname Andy. This is the name he was known by for the rest of his life.
After college, Andy worked as a reporter in New York City, but he didn’t really
like it. It was not the type of writing he wanted to do. He traveled for a while, but
eventually ended up back in New York. This time, he was working for an advertising
agency. When a new magazine called “The New Yorker” was started in 1925, Andy
submitted an essay. It was printed and soon he got a full time job writing for this
magazine.
In 1937, Andy quit “The New Yorker” and moved his family to a farm, in North
Brooklin, Maine. During World War II, he returned to “The New Yorker”, but eventually
settled back on his farm.
Years before he had started working on a children’s book. In 1945, Stuart Little
was published. In 1949, Charlotte’s Web was published. In 1970, The Trumpet of the
Swan was published. He received many awards for his writing. These awards include the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the National Medal for
Literature, and a Pulitzer Prize special citation.
On October 1, 1985, E. B. White died in North Brooklin, Maine.
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32 Jefferson Street (630) 554-3150
Oswego, IL 60543 www.oswego.lib.il.us
Discussion Questions: Charlotte’s Web
1. What is a runt? How do the parents and children react differently to it? Are their values
different? Explain.
2. Why is Mrs. Arable so opposed to Fern spending time at the Zuckerman farm?
3. Why does everyone except Edith (and Dr. Dorian) dismiss the spider's (Charlotte’s)
contribution to the “miracle” of having words written in the web? Does this seem reasonable
or not?
4. What is significant about the order of the messages in the web? What would have
happened had the messages been in a different order?
5. In the story, when people see something written in the web, they automatically believe it is
true. Is that true in our lives today? Think about this in context with reading a newspaper or a
magazine.
6. What is the meaning of the chapter "Escape" where Wilbur gets free of his pen but then
returns? Why does he give up his freedom? Can you relate this to your own life?
7. Are there any villains in Charlotte’s Web? Is Templeton evil? How is what Templeton
does in helping Wilbur different from what Charlotte does? Charlotte traps, kills, and eats
flies because she is a spider and that is what spiders do. Does Templeton behave as he does
because he is a rat and that is what rats do?
8. Charlotte describes herself as versatile (pg 116). Does the fact that Wilbur cannot lay eggs
or spin a web make him less versatile? How much of our ability to adapt is dependent on what
we are? Is this true of people?
9. On page 144, Charlotte says, "Is it a plaything?" "Plaything? I should say not. It is my egg
sac, my magnum opus." Why do you think the egg sac is her ‘great work’ when she did such
amazing things with her web? Does having completed the egg sac make her death less sad?
10. The last paragraph (pg. 184) says, "Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. . . . She was in a class
by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.
Charlotte was both." What does this passage mean? Why would being a good writer be
important? Is the author talking about more than just Charlotte when he writes this?
11. What is the meaning of the title of the book? Can Charlotte’s Web have more than one
meaning?
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32 Jefferson Street (630) 554-3150
Oswego, IL 60543 www.oswego.lib.il.us