Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Modern Fantasy
4th Grade


Charlotte's Web is a classic that all children should read. This is a story of a wonderful friendship that all begins when a little girl (Fern) decides to save the runt of a liter of pigs (Wilbur). Fern enjoyed her pet Wilbur and his friendship, and in return Wilbur loved her back. The two did everything together until Wilbur was forced to go live with Fern's Uncle Zuckerman. This event devastated Wilbur and he found himself in a new barnyard with no friends, until he met Charlotte.

Charlotte was a beautiful spider who was kind to Wilbur and befriended him when he was lonely. Wilbur was happy in the barnyard until he heard the news of him being a part of the holiday meals the family would enjoy. This scared Wilbur but it was his friend Charlotte to the rescue.

With the help of the barnyard rat Templeton, Charlotte was able to create a miracle that would save Wilbur. Templeton started collecting words from trash that described Wilbur. Charlotte carefully crafted these words into her web and the Zuckerman farm saw this as nothing less than a miracle. In fact this miracle made Zuckerman decide to show Wilbur off at the fair.

So, Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton all headed to the fair together. This time Charlotte choose her word carefully to describe Wilbur, for this would be the last web she would ever weave. Once the fair officials saw the web they awarded Wilbur with a special award, one that would keep Zuckerman from killing the him.

Wilbur's joy quickly faded when he realized that Charlotte was too weak to return to the barnyard with him. He knew that she had created an egg sac full of her children and he was determined that if his friend Charlotte could not be with him that the baby spiders would be. With the help of Templeton, Wilbur was able to safely bring the egg sac to the barn and say goodbye to his wonderful friend Charlotte. Wilbur was able to see many more of Charlotte's descendants and he enjoyed them being his friend. Charlotte indeed saved Wilbur and gave him a wonderful life.


I will use this book as a connection between science and literature. In 4th grade science students learn about animals. They describe how they are alike and different, how their behaviors and body shapes help them survive, and how differences in animals can be a benefit. I will read this book with my students during the science unit on animals to help them see these things within literature.