Charlotte's Web by EB White illustrated by Garth Williams

“Attention, please!” he said in a loud, firm voice. “Will the party who addressed me at bedtime last night kindly make himself or herself known by giving an appropriate sign or signal!”

Wilbur has been wishing, out loud, for a friend. Charlotte quietly says she will be his friend, and she tells Wilbur she will meet him the morning. The lines above are from Wilbur - and yes it is the next morning. He wants to find the owner of the voice from last night. Wilbur is about to meet the most special friend - a spider named Charlotte. 

You are sure to remember the classic opening lines of Charlotte's Web:

Where's Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. “Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.” “I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight. “Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.” “Do away with it?” shrieked Fern. “You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?”

Think about the fact that Fern is eight years old. When she confronts her father about the new baby pig she sure does use some sophisticated and persuasive language:

“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?” Mr. Arable smiled. “Certainly not,” he said, looking down at his daughter with love. “But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.” “I see no difference,” replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. “This is the most terrible case of injustice I ever heard of.”

Fern is also a farm kid. She goes inside and mum has breakfast ready and one of the offerings is bacon! I guess only adults will see this as a little ironic.

EB White is a master of sensory descriptions - take a look at this example:

It smelled of hay and it smelled of manure. It smelled of the perspiration of tired horses and the wonderful sweet breath of patient cows. It often had a sort of peaceful smell—as though nothing bad could happen ever again in the world. It smelled of grain and of harness dressing and of axle grease and of rubber boots and of new rope. And whenever the cat was given a fish-head to eat, the barn would smell of fish. But mostly it smelled of hay, for there was always hay in the great loft up overhead.

You could also talk to your writing group about the way EB White makes use of lists in this story:

it was full of all sorts of things that you find in barns: ladders, grindstones, pitch forks, monkey wrenches, scythes, lawn mowers, snow shovels, ax handles, milk pails, water buckets, empty grain sacks, and rusty rat traps.

Flies, bugs, grasshoppers, choice beetles, moths, butterflies, tasty cockroaches, gnats, midges, daddy longlegs, centipedes, mosquitoes, crickets—anything that is careless enough to get caught in my web. I have to live, don’t I?

It was a delicious meal—skim milk, wheat middlings, leftover pancakes, half a doughnut, the rind of a summer squash, two pieces of stale toast, a third of a gingersnap, a fish tail, one orange peel, several noodles from a noodle soup, the scum off a cup of cocoa, an ancient jelly roll, a strip of paper from the lining of the garbage pail, and a spoonful of raspberry jello.

Here, in a small clearing hidden by young alders and wild raspberry bushes, was an astonishing pile of old bottles and empty tin cans and dirty rags and bits of metal and broken bottles and broken hinges and broken springs and dead batteries and last month’s magazines and old discarded dishmops and tattered overalls and rusty spikes and leaky pails and forgotten stoppers and useless junk of all kinds, including a wrong-size crank for a broken ice-cream freezer.

I participate in a children's book club on Facebook and the book for June was Charlotte's Web. I'm fairly sure I didn't read this 1952 book as a child - I think I probably first read it in the 1980s. Today, in preparation for participating in the discussion I re-read Charlotte's Web on my bus trip into the city and then finished the final half this afternoon.

I was very surprised about the parts of the story that I had forgotten, and I was also surprised that I didn't have my expected emotional reaction to the death of beautiful Charlotte. This might be my third reading of this classic book. I did talk about Charlotte's Web here on this blog back in 2012. In that past post I shared some text quotes. Today I read this book on my Kindle so I was easily able to highlight passages that resonated with me - and they are quite different from the ones in my previous post. 

There are some rich words used in this book such as these examples: endure, objectionable, meekly, salutations, a jubilee time, sincere, scruples, compunctions, gullible, forsake, and untenable.

And also some words that are sure to be unfamiliar to young Australian children - wheat middlings, popover, midway, hominy, provender, timothy (it's a type of grass used for hay), and Crackerjack.

I had also forgotten the maths references - money given to the children at the fair and the exact number of eggs in Charlotte's egg sack.

Here is another quote that resonated with me:

Wilbur was modest; fame did not spoil him. He still worried some about the future, as he could hardly believe that a mere spider would be able to save his life. Sometimes at night he would have a bad dream. He would dream that men were coming to get him with knives and guns. But that was only a dream. In the daytime, Wilbur usually felt happy and confident. No pig ever had truer friends, and he realized that friendship is one of the most satisfying things in the world.

Companion books:

Aranea

Some Writer

Here are the famous Charlotte's Web quotes that you are sure to recognise:

“You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”

It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.

I know how to draw an owl by Hilary Horder Hippely illustrated by Matt James

Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book 2025

Winner of 2025 Boston Globe Horn Book Award

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Winner of the Frostburg State University CLC Book Award

Nominated for the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award

I don't normally share books that I have not physically seen but this book has just won two very major awards so I wanted to mention it here. My friend and I hope this book will shortly become readily available in Australia. Sadly, picture books, even award winners like this, do not always make it into our bookstores or library - an example of this is a book I keep looking out for - Watercress by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin a Caldecott winner!

Here is the blurb for I know how to draw an owl: Belle and her mother used to have a house, a table, and chairs, a home like any of Belle’s classmates’. But things changed. Now, they curl up each night in a blanket nest in their old blue car, with their things packed in around them.  The first night was hard, but they’ve never been alone: their friend the owl has always been nearby, hooting in its tree, looking out for them. Belle longs to catch sight of it, and one night, she finally does. That’s how she learned to draw an owl. No one knows that story. But when a new boy comes to school, a boy whose car looks like Belle’s, a boy who looks lost and scared, it’s Belle’s turn to watch over someone. 

Watch this video about The Boston Globe Horn Book Award which started in 1967.

Here is the Horn Book review in full:

In this quietly affecting and beautifully illustrated book, young Belle's drawing of an owl draws praise from her teacher, but the child doesn't want to reveal why it's so good. Belle once had a home but now lives with her mother in their car. Every night in the wooded park where they sleep, Belle hears the hooting of an owl, but it stays out of sight. Then one night it appears; comforted, Belle thinks the owl is saying, "I like sharing my home with you." And just as the owl helped her, when a new boy arrives at school whose circumstances are similar to hers, Belle offers him friendship and reassurance. Atmospheric paintings, with their almost palpable thick brushstrokes and deep, cool colors, memorably depict the ethereal nighttime woods and the majestic owl.

Hippely’s lyrical, empathetic text complements James’ mesmerizing, at times haunting acrylic illustrations depicting vast landscapes dotted with houses and secluded natural scenes rendered with thick brush strokes in comforting dark blues and greens. Wordless double-page spreads throughout allow readers to assume Belle’s perspective and take in the child’s day-to-day feelings of uncertainty, fostering empathy along the way. Kirkus Star review

The challenges of being unhoused are gently revealed in this empathetic picture book, exquisitely enhanced by superb illustrations. Shelf Awareness

Today over lunch my friend and I search for more information about Hilary Horder Hippely (I do love her name).  Nearly all of her books are now out of print and I do not imagine any will be held in libraries here in Australia but here are two of her titles.

And here are some books illustrated by Canadian Matt James (you are more likely to find a few of his books here in Australia):

Past winners of the Boston Globe Horn Book Award:

The Mona Lisa Vanishes; Fungi Grow

Krout & Elmore Children’s Book Award for Best Portrayal of Aging

2009 Elementary Award winner

2025 Winner of the Krout and Elmore Award

Krout & Elmore Children’s Book Award for Best Portrayal of Aging

The Krout & Elmore Children’s Book Award for Best Portrayal of Aging from the Gerontological Society of America is awarded each year to recognize realistic portrayals of older adults in picture books for children.

We use the Caldecott Medal definition: “A ‘picture book for children,’'as distinguished from other books with illustrations, is one that essentially provides the child with a visual experience. A picture book has a collective unity of storyline, theme, or concept developed through the series of pictures of which the book is comprised. A ‘picture book for children’ is one for which children are an intended potential audience. The book displays respect for children’s understanding, abilities, and appreciation. Children are defined as persons of ages up to and including fourteen, and picture books for this entire age range are to be considered.” Read more here.

2024

• Primary Reader: Grandad's Pride by Harry Woodgate; Published 2023, Little Bee Books
• Honorable Mention: Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps by Srividhya Venkat and illustrated by Kavita Ramchandran; Published 2021, Yali Books
• Elementary Reader: Abuelita and Me by Leonarda Carranza and illustrated by Rafail Mayani; Published 2022, Annick Press
• Honorable Mention: Just Like Grandma by Kim Rogers and illustrated by Julie Flett; Published 2023, Heartdrum

2022

• Recipient: On the Trapline by David A. Robertson and illustrated by Julie Flett; Published 2021, Tundra Books
• Honorable Mention: Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost by Betina Birkjaer and illustrated by Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard; Published 2021, Enchanted Lion

2020

• Older Readers: Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina; Published 2018, Candlewick
• Younger Readers: A Gift from Abuela by Cecelia Ruiz; Published 2018, Candlewick  

2018

• Primary Reader: It’s Just Aging by Eliah Takushi, Carly Tan, and Colby Takeda; Published 2015, Mutual Pub Co
• Elementary Reader: Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar; Published 2016, Walker Books 

2016

• Primary Reader: Papa Chagall, Tell Us a Story by Laurence Anholt; Published 2015, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books
• Elementary Reader: The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nye; Published 2016, Greenwillow Books 
• Honorable Mention: Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo; Published 2014, Clarion Books 

2014

• Primary Reader: Shoebox Sam by Mary Brigid Barrett and illustrated by Frank Morrison; Published 2011, Zonderkidz
• Elementary Reader: Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women's Suffrage by Claire Rudolph Murphy and illustrated by Stacey Schuett; Published 2011, Peachtree

2011

• Primary Reader: Sometimes It's Grandmas and Grandpas: Not Mommies and Daddies by Gayle Byrne and illustrated by Mary Haverfield; Published 2009, Abbeville Kids

2010

• Primary Reader: Niwechihaw/I Help by Caitlin Dale Nicholson; Published 2008, Groundwood Books
• Elementary Reader: Ain't Nobody A Stranger to Me by Ann Grifalconi and illustrated by Jerry Pickney; Published 2007, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

2009

• Primary Reader: Rock, Brock and the Savings Shock by Sheila Bair and illustrated by Barry Gott; Published 2006, Albert Whitman & Company
• Elementary Reader: The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper and illustrated by Gabi Swiatowska; Published 2007, Abrams Books for Young Readers 

2025 winner and shortlisted titles

Books for Topics: A resource from the UK

 

Books for Topics

This is an amazing resource which is so useful for Teacher-Librarians both in the UK and here in Australia.

Here are a few screen shots to show you the range of things available on this site:

I have previously talked about the Inclusive Book awards; and the Brandford Boase Award

So, let's try a real-life example. A grandparent asked me this week for a book to read with her Grade 3 grandson - they have been reading a very old book - Professor Brainstorm. The grandparent said the boy was enjoying this series but since they were published in the 1930s, they do feel very dated. He has a scientific mind and enjoys books about inventions. All of the 13 Storey Treehouse books have been firm favourites.  So, I put Inventors into the search function on the Books for Topics site and found these:

This one is out of print but might be in a library

This second book was published in 2016 and is available.

Recently on a Facebook forum someone asked for books set in London for their Primary school aged readers who were about to travel there. I suggested The Great Stink by Colleen Paeff illustrated by Nancy Carpenter which is a fabulous non fiction biography; and The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Q Rauf. I wanted to also suggest a wonderful book which would be SO perfect called Duck for Danger by Ann Grocott but it is so very very old I am sure it would be impossible to find. 

Books for topics listed 161 books about London for ages 5-11. You can see this list here. By chance I am currently reading this one:

One more example. On the forum I mentioned above parents often ask for books set during World War II for ages 10+. There are lots of books that fit this criteria but here are a few screen shots of the Books for Topics suggestions:

Northern Sydney Area Teacher Librarian Conference June 2025

You might like to begin here - The Anatomy of a Blog Post.

I also need to mention Colby Sharp - I follow him on various social media platforms and watch his YouTube videos. He shares terrific middle grade titles and picture books. I also love to read the 31 lists in 31 days from Betsy Bird each December. Also take a look at the recent CILIP Carnegies award winners announced a few days ago. 

Here are links to some of the web sites I mentioned in my presentation:

IBBY Australia

IBBY Australia

Sustainable Development Goals - IBBY book lists

The Lady with the Books

Hans Christian Andersen award nominees for 2026

Silent (Wordless Books) Five Book collections

Picture book about Hans Christian Andersen

High School

NCACL Picture Books for Older Readers

The Empathy Lab Read for Empathy collection

IBBY Australia Sustainable Development Goals

IBBY Australia

IBBY Australia Pinterest

Paperbark Words Joy Lawn

Kirkus Best books of the 21st Century (so far) Teen and YA

Mathical - Maths books 

Pop goes the reader - 58 verse novels

Ms Yingling 

Barrington Stoke

Modern Slavery Australian support The Freedom Hub

Ten Word Tiny Tales resource

Illustration by Sydney Smith (Canada) from Ten Word Tiny Tales of Love

Primary School

Be More Pippi 80 years of Pippi Longstocking

More about Be More Pippi

Eric Carle Museum - End papers exhibition

NCACL Picture Books for Older Readers

The Empathy Lab Read for Empathy collection

AAAS Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science book winners by Category US

Kinderbookswitheverything - great ideas for display, themes, and celebrations

Inclusive Children's Books

SPARK Book Awards UK

Kirkus Best books of the 21st Century (so far) Middle Grade

Kirkus Best books of the 21st Century (so far) Picture Books

Mathical - Maths books 

The Reading Jackdaw 50 word book reviews UK

Let's talk picture books

Ten Word Tiny Tales resource

Barrington Stoke

Books for Topics - UK

Reading with a chance of Tacos podcast (Australian)

Momotimetoread Pinterest

Momotimetoread Instagram

Here are a couple of my most favourite books that I wish could be added to every school library:

Shelter

Wishtree

Higher Ground by Tull Suwannakit

You will need to set aside some time to read this intriguing book. The story begins with an enormous flood. Two children and their grandmother (and pet rabbit) are left stranded. No one is coming to help but the grandmother has years of wisdom and she knows how to use their scarce supplies to survive. She shows the children how to plant seeds to grow food, how to gather water, build a shelter, how to catch and prepare fish, how to use fire for cooking and warmth and most of all she gives the children hope. For nearly 200 days the group survive but the grandmother is growing frail. We watch the seasons change and we see their daily activities through a series of wordless spreads. Eventually the children decide to build a raft. This is the part that broke my heart - the children set off to find other people and they leave their grandmother behind. She tells the children she cannot make the journey, she needs to stay behind and tend their garden but they should know she will always be with them in their hearts.

I expect to see this book listed for many 2026 awards - and it is sure to be a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) notable in the Younger Readers category. The presentation of this book is just beautiful - hardcover and with a very appealing size and book design. 

Publisher blurb: After a great flood swallows their city, a wise grandmother, her two grandchildren, and their pet rabbit find themselves stranded on the only safe place left—the rooftop of their home. With nothing but their small garden and a handful of supplies, they must learn to survive in a world where the familiar streets have turned to endless water. Days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, as they face hunger, storms, and the uncertainty of what lies beyond the horizon. But through each hardship, the grandmother shares words of wisdom, teaching her grandchildren the power of resilience, kindness, and hope. As their garden grows, so too does their belief that even in the darkest times, life finds a way forward. Higher Ground serves as both a warning and a call to action for future generations, urging readers to honor and protect the environment before it’s too late. Told through beautifully illustrated panels, this dystopian middle-grade graphic novel is a powerful meditation on survival, family, and the delicate balance between humanity and nature.

Here are some brief teachers notes from the publisher. 

It is my hope that Higher Ground will encourage young readers to reflect on their own connections to nature, the importance of family values, and the fragile world around them. In a world that is constantly changing, these qualities are more important than ever. Perhaps the story’s central themes of hope, growth and resilience, could offer readers a meaningful outlook to a more empathetic world we live in. Tull Suwannakit (Federation of Children's Book Groups)

I am not a fan of endorsements (as you may know) but there are some interesting names here:

Image source: Tull Suwannakit

Tull Suwannakit talks about his work here. 

Higher Ground is highly visual, with 14 short chapters, and plenty of light and shade in both story and pictures, making it difficult to ascribe to an ideal reader. It is pitched for ages 5+, but this is the sort of immersive, cross-genre, layered storytelling that will captivate readers of many ages, in many different ways. Storylinks

Here is a detailed and insightful interview with Joy Lawn at Paperbark Words. Here is a review from The Bottom Shelf. 

Embracing such themes as home, belonging, loss, grief, refugees, self-sufficiency and the consequences of climate change, this is a book that deserves to be widely read at home and in classrooms. Red Reading Hub

In this age of global warming and climate change books there are many books now that explore the consequences of catastrophic flooding. 

Please try to find this book to read after (or before) High Ground. 

Water, Water

And for older readers I highly recommend this book:

Across the Risen Sea

Other books I have talked about here by Tull Suwannakit:

Happy Hoppy Home

Heart and Soul

Louder than Hunger by John Schu

What does it feel like to eat without worry? 

Without a voice constantly 

quacking and crying 

inside your head? 

A voice 

pound, pound, pounding

yell, yell, yelling

ALL DAY.

Foreword: What if someone was brave enough to tell you the truth? What if someone dared to reveal their heart to you? The book that you hold in your hands tells a painful truth. It reveals a beautiful, broken heart. Jake’s heart. Jake is thirteen years old, and he has an eating disorder. You and Jake are about to go on a harrowing journey together; by the time you finish this book, you will be friends. Reading Jake’s story will change you. You might find that you want to reveal your heart, tell someone your truth. Telling your story can save your life. It may save someone else’s life, too. Jake knows this. John Schu knows this. That is why he wrote this book. For you. —Kate DiCamillo

Jake is thirteen. He has a voice in his head that is truly awful and it is voice that controls his actions and thought and he cannot seem to 'turn it off' or ignore it. The voice tells him he is ugly and fat and so he stops eating. He wears really baggy clothes to disguise his body and he weighs himself compulsively.

Grandma: You’re too thin. I worry. I see it even when you’re always wearing those baggy sweaters over your overalls. I don’t think you’re eating enough. You’re a growing boy. 

Me: I eat enough. I promise.

Elementary school was good, high school is torture. Jake takes some comfort though, from musicals. Louder than hunger is an autobiographical story. I used to follow John Schu when he was an ambassador for Scholastic and every time he visited a different city he would talk about the musicals he had attended - often seeing the same show many many times. This used to make me smile but now I know why. Visiting his grandmother is also a comfort. They both love musicals and the same television shows. Finally a former teacher who he visits in the nursing home where he goes as a volunteer alerts his mum that Jake is ill and after a visit to the doctor he goes into a mental health facility for adolescents. In The Pines he meet Kella

I love the way John Schu weaves into his story so many fantastic children's books (of course I would have expected him to do this!) such as Sarah, Plain and Tall; Shiloh; The Giver; Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry; and Where the Sidewalk ends. Jake also quotes poems by Emily Dickinson - I recently talked about this picture book for an IBBY Australia presentation:

Some reviewers list this book for readers aged as young as 12 but this book is so raw and distressing, I think it better suits mature readers aged 15+. The scene where Jake is fitted with a feeding tube is absolutely harrowing. My own connection to this story comes from around 1975 when I visited a mental health facility like the one in this book and I saw teens not much younger than me who were suffering like Jake - that moment had a profound impact on me. 

Written in a combination of non-rhyming poetry and prose, this elegant and unique verse-novel is propulsive and compelling. ... This visceral and raw memoir type book instantly draws the reader in and spits us out at the other end – in the best possible way. Kids' Book Review

Here is a podcast (one hour) where you can hear John Talking about his book.  You can read an extract on the Candlewick publisher page. 

John Schu (Schumacher) has made a career out of advocating for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, and the people that connect them. He was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker for his dynamic interactions with students and his passionate adoption of new technologies as a means of connecting authors, illustrators, books, and readers. He is the children’s librarian for Bookelicious, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and shares his love of reading with countless educators and students around the world. He served as the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs for almost 6 years.

You know that I am not a fan of endorsements but so many very famous authors have said such profound (and true) things about this book:

“Louder Than Hunger is a powerful and important book, giving readers entry into the world of a sensitive teen struggling physically and emotionally with crippling anxiety and anorexia. Through his free verse voice, we accompany Jake into his honest, raw, vulnerable world. I think readers of all ages will empathize with him, worry for him, and root for his journey to understanding, recovery, hope, and joy. Those who know the author, John Schu, and have witnessed his boundless enthusiasm and legendary passion for reading and the transformative power of story will connect on an even deeper level upon learning that Jake’s story parallels John Schu’s own. From troubled teen to author and speaker surging with compassion and joy and willing to share it all with the world—that is John Schu.”   —Newbery Medalist Sharon Creech

I read Louder than Hunger on my Kindle but I wanted to show you the way the verse in this novel is set out - it is so sparce and so very powerful. Louder than hunger has over 500 pages but you can see from this example that you can fly through this book and you do fly through because if you are like me you just wanted Jake to feel well again and for that dread anorexia voice to at least quieten down if not completely turn off:

This is not quite the final page but I hope reading these words from Jake will help you see that he will be okay:

I say to Dr. Parker, Thank you for “forcing” me to share complicated, hard-to-think-about thoughts. You helped me see anorexia nervosa isn’t really about food.