“E. B. White found joy in the ordinary and turned it into the extraordinary.“
“E. B. White found joy in the ordinary and turned it into the extraordinary.“
Discover the story of E. B. White, the man who brought Charlotte, Wilbur, and Stuart Little to life. A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider by Barbara Herkert, with illustrations by Lauren Castillo, is a lyrical portrait of an author whose love for nature and storytelling continues to inspire. This beautifully crafted biography is perfect for readers who cherish the magic of Charlotte‘s Web and wish to learn more about the writer behind the tale.
pickA Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider is a tender and poetic biography of E. B. White, the beloved author of Charlotte‘s Web. Barbara Herkert‘s lyrical text beautifully captures White‘s quiet nature and deep connection to the natural world, which inspired his timeless stories. Lauren Castillo‘s soft and evocative illustrations perfectly complement the narrative, adding warmth and charm to this homage.
According to Storygraph, I‘ve been reading this since last December. But you know something? It‘s the kind of book that almost demands slow reading. Not that the pieces are dense or difficult to read. There is just an attitude of slowing down and treasuring the moment throughout. It‘s been a comforting reading experience in a way. I‘ve got 12 more essays to go. I think it will be bittersweet to finish this volume.
“The subtlest change in New York is something people don‘t speak much about but that is in everyone‘s mind. The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers…”
The language here is terrifying, and it‘s incredible that this was written in 1948, so prescient of the possibility of horror. ⬇️
There‘s been a few #weirdwords sprinkled throughout White‘s essays, but a recent one that I never heard before was the phrase “shoe hockeys.” I tried searching the term but it was unproductive. I‘m thinking he‘s either describing skates that you attach to the bottoms of shoes or, as he mentions later in the paragraph, a pair of skates. Anyone else heard this phrase before? Is it a retronym? @dabbe
#weirdwordWednesdays @CBee
“Events carry us rapidly in directions tangential to our true desires…Perhaps success in the future will depend partly on our ability to generate cheap power, but I think it will depend to a greater extent on our ability to resist a technological formula that is sterile…There is more to these rocks than uranium; their is the lichen on the rock, the smell of the fern whose feet are upon the rock, the view from the rock.”
-1956
“I have no sharp taste for acquiring things, but it is not necessary to desire things in order to acquire them. Goods and chattels seek a man out; they find him even though his guard is up. Books and oddities arrive in the mail. Gifts arrive on anniversaries and fête days…Under ordinary circumstances, the only stuff that leaves a home is paper trash and garbage; everything else stays on and digs in.”
#booksandoddities
pickMost of the essays are great. The one about the Summer vacation lake is wonderful. Just a couple seem out of date and not so relevant. Still worthwhile and show how essays should be done.
