Wild Things: YA Grown-Up discussion

I'm getting ready to re-read this for one of the challenge tasks. I adored it when I was a kid, and I hope I enjoy it just as much now. I felt a strong connection to Fern, as I am also an animal lover.

Did anyone else like this book when they were younger? Has anyone re-read this as an adult?

Yes and yes, Bird. :) It's one I've reread many times over the years. A few years ago my brother gave it to me as an audiobook, which is narrated by E.B. White himself. I love listening to the author read me his book.

My children recently watched the movie and I cried at the end, I think this might be a good read aloud this summer,

I read this when I was little and then lots of times since. I love the Hanna Barbera cartoon, but really didn't want to see the more recent movie. I didn't want to fiddle with the image of the characters I have in my mind. All of his books are so charming.

The thing I was shocked by is that it didn't win the Newberry the year it was released. "Secret of the Andes," by Ann Nolan Clark, did. Has anyone read that one? I certainly haven't.

I got Charlotte's Web, however, for my eighth birthday, and have loved it ever since.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! I'm really looking forward to re-reading it, as I haven't read it since grade school. I loved the cartoon too, Kandice, and I wouldn't want to see anything more current either. That cartoon/film was perfect just as it was. Loved them both.

I love the confidence boost that this book gives... Feeling a little down? Let Charlotte cheer you up -- well, until the end, that is.

This book remains one of my all time favorites. I even had a stuff toy pig I named Wilbur.

I thought the new Movie was a good rendition of the book . Give it a chance

Like many of you, I have only seen the cartoon movie version. I am very hesitant to watch the newer version, because I'm almost positive I will be disappointed with it.

Susanna wrote: "The thing I was shocked by is that it didn't win the Newberry the year it was released. "Secret of the Andes," by Ann Nolan Clark, did. Has anyone read that one? I certainly haven't...."

Yes, I've read Secret of the Andes. Charlotte's Web should DEFINITELY have won the award. I wasn't writing reviews back when I read the Newbery books (before GR), but here is a review that is similar to what I might have said. She puts Secret of the Andes at the bottom of her Newbery list. I have a few I would place below it, but it would definitely be on a list of my least favorite Newberys.

I read Charlotte's Web when I was younger and LOVED it.

I know I watched the cartoon movie over and over and over, especially for Tempelton's song.

Speaking of Templeton, I have always wanted a pet of my own just so I could name it Templeton.

This will always be one of my lifetime favorite books. I've read it so many times I might be able to quote it. I love both versions of the movie as well. This is the way children's books ought to be written. I agree that it should have recieved the Newberry. (I feel that way about The Phantom Tollbooth, also.)

I think one of the reasons this book only received the Honor, while Secret of the Andes got the award was because South American was so under-represented in Newbery winners. But, I just wan't impressed with Secret of the Andes, and think that Charlotte's Web is a beautiful book. It's one of those books that makes you feel warm and loved while reading it, and makes you feel like the characters within the pages are your new best friends while reading.

I really enjoy that the school that my boys attend still assist the students in reading this book. Because the teacher read it to the first grade class it has become one of my son's favorites along with mine. I try and re-read it at least every 3 to 5 years. I loved the book, the movie was just ok for me.

Has anyone read anything else by White? I really liked Charlotte's Web when I was a kid, even though I don't generally like animal narratives.

But, I just finished The Trumpet of the Swan, and I really didn't like it very much. I might have liked it better as a kid, but I found that I couldn't get past the ridiculousness of a swan learning to read and play the trumpet... And the swan's dialogue was also ridiculous and very, very human. An animal is not going to refer to their young by the scientific human name. A lot of the things I didn't love about the story would probably have gone over my head as a kid, but I was sad that I didn't like it better.

My copy is really pretty though... ;)

Another book I have read many times over, "Charlotte's Web" is one I am impatient to read to my as-yet-unborn children! It's a great story about friendship, loyalty, and the cycle of life. I never cried during the book, but when I saw the movie, the tears fell!