Charlotte's Web

The parents respond to her fear by telling her that the owl is only asking “an odd question…” (4). They say that if she “rightly listened” to the owl, she would be able to hear it merely asking “who cooks for you?” (6). The stanza expresses a humorous tone with phrases such as “[It] was an odd question from a forest bird…” (4), and “Who cooks for you?” (6). On one level, the parents comfort the child by telling a lie in order to get her back to sleep, on another level, this changes the perception the daughter has of the owl. The parents do this by using the term “forest bird”, instead of “owl” to make her feel less intimidated. Through this lie she perceives the owl as a friendly forest creature, rather than a horrid monster from the night. The poem’s “AABBCC” rhyme scheme also helped further establish the tone, giving a child-like feeling to it, because it’s often used in fairy tales which is meant for children. Wilbur believes that the lie is a good way to help the child go to sleep. He justifies it in the

Seuss was still able to make reading fun and enjoyable to children. Along the lines of his illustrations, Theodor Geisel was among the first authors to put illustrations equal with text, enabling his readers to follow the action and the story simultaneously. True to his eccentric character and unique perspective, Seuss basically drew things as he saw them. Surprisingly, he had strict guidelines on how to write children's books. There was only one illustration per page and nothing could describe anything pictured. That way, children can work out the story from the illustrations. In addition, his characters are unique. Although his characters may seem simplistic, Seuss' illustrations are inimitable. Through his drawings, word selection, and rhythm, Seuss created subliminal messages for his readers.

Alison Bechdel ends her memoir Are You My Mother? with the words “But in its place, she has given me something else. She has given me the way out.” While this conclusion might seem flawed, it does a good job finalizing the recurring theme of spiderwebs in the novel. Just a few pages before (275), she depicts a scene of her talking about phobias while her mother throws out a spider. A connection can be drawn between the phobia of a real spider (that her mother has) and her phobia of what a spider represents, perfection and symmetry. Quoting from Adam Phillips, Bechdel says that, “‘Spiders are good to hate people with … she had to find a spider to let her do it.’” (275) The medium of a spider represents a recurring theme that Bechdel incorporates

Furthermore, the illustrations paint a beautiful picture that I like to think is an insight into a child’s mind, which I is a key element in this book and what makes it so great. Since the book is narrated by a child the intentional simplicity of the words and the controlled chaos that is the illustrations breathes unadulterated life into a rather normal children’s book.

When readers read a story written by an author they will usually think that the author likes to read books and is what led the author to writing a book. William Goldman said, “As a child, I had no Interest in reading” (Goldman 3), this can lead readers to imagining the author as a young child rather than an adult not wanting to read a book. When Readers imagine the author as a young child the image imagined can give a better sense of how the author felt as a young child. The imagination of a child giving the reader a picture to think about is less complex than that of a adult giving a reader a picture to think about.

The unexpected pairing of friends is a common theme found throughout literature, as it is so true in life. True friendship can blossom at times, in places and with the people we least expect. It knows no race, color, socio-economic status, religion, age or even species. In Charlotte’s Web, we explore how the unusual friendship between a pig and spider could evolve from an innocent introduction to an intense and powerful relationship that would change their destiny and allow them to be “radiant”.

Dr. Seuss is probably the American writer who has so far had the greatest impact on children's literature. The intelligent usage of vivid illustrations, imaginative characters, and catchy rhymes made it easy for people who grew up reading these stories to recognize them. However, although the author worked tirelessly at his craft, he is not well-known since he did not seek after personal fame. Most of the fans to his literary materials are not well conversant with the details of his private life. For instance, most people are not aware that Dr. Seuss was not a doctor, but simply added the prefix to his pseudonym to provide credibility to the menagerie of characters in his works (Thompson 21). He worked as a writer and a cartoonist, publishing nearly more than sixty books. Some of the most famous pieces of his work include “Green Eggs and Ham” and the “The Cat in the Hat.”

However, good times don't last long for Charlotte, as she becomes feebler and feebler and she dies soon after Wilbur's triumph, leaving an egg sac which carries all her eggs. Eventually, Wilbur, being the best friend of her, brings the egg sac home for Charlotte's sake and he is glad to see her next generation later in spring. You may find it ridiculous to come across such unusual friendship - friendship between a spider and a pig. They belong to two animal species which are worlds apart.

Children’s literature has existed for as long as there have been stories to be told to children. Stories, books, songs, poems are all made for children. Children’s literature does not have a definite definition of what it is; basically, it is anything a child reads (Lerer, 2008). Children begin to learn what reading and writing are used for before even knowing how the system works. Children recognise the function of written language by seeing examples of written language that are being used around them. Many children know the difference between reading and talking, they are aware that written language is used to do things in this world (Emitt, Zbaracki, Komesaroff and Pollock, 2015). Quintilian, John Locke, Saint Augustine and Doctor Seuss speculated on the ways children learn the Australian language and learn about their lives from literature (Lerer, 2008). In fact, Lerer states that “the history of children’s literature is inseparable from the history of childhood, for the child was made through texts and tales he/she studied, heard and told back,” (2008, p.1). Children’s literature nurtures an understanding of narrative structures and visual images played in storytelling, this helps develop

Hana’s Suitcase and Charlotte’s Web are two very different styles of books. Hana’s Suitcase is a real-life story about a girl who suffered a terrible injustice at the hands of social world beliefs. During the time Hana Brady lived in the 1930s and where she lived in a town called Nove Mesto na Morave in the Province of Moravia in Czechoslovakia she herself, her family and many other Jewish people suffered tremendously and so many people were murdered. On the other hand, Charlotte’s Web is a story about a pig named Wilbur who was born the runt of the litter and was going to be killed because of his size in comparison to his siblings. Although they are very different types of books they do have several things themes and plot points which

Dr. Seuss greatly impacted children’s books. He changed the way that children’s books are written and illustrated with his original style. Many people consider Dr. Seuss’s unique style to be one of his greatest achievements (“Contemporary Authors”). Before Dr. Seuss’s books, children’s books were very bland and uncreative. After the release of his books, many authors follow his example when writing their books (“Theodor

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, is perhaps one of the most beloved children’s authors of the twentieth century. Although he is most famous as an author of children’s books, Geisel was also a political cartoonist, advertisement designer, and film director (Kaplan). He used the power of imagination to produce unforgettable children’s books and helped solve the problem of illiteracy among America’s children. By using his experiences in life as a foundation for most of his books, Theodor Geisel created a unique writing style that incorporated various elements and techniques, enabling his books to appeal to people of all ages.

An Exploration in Grice’s Widows Few people are obsessed with spiders; especially the black widow. But essayist Gordon Grice finds them particularly fascinating. His essay, “Caught in the Widow’s Web” explores the different facets of a black widow, what makes it a terrifying being to those who do not understand it, and an underlying meaning beyond a simple eight-legged creature. In a very matter-of-fact tone, Grice unfolds some of his knowledge, tells a story from his childhood, and discusses fear and a deeper message of pointless evil in the world.

This charming story reverses the typical roles within a children’s book. With underlying issues of stereotypes, independence and empowerment, it fills children with imagination and teaches them the importance of being strong, smart, and the realization that beauty comes from within.

His honesty about difficult subjects such as death and his focus on many harsh and dreadful characters make his work fascinating for children (Seidel 5). Most children can relate to these types his types of books like this. Dahl became known for writing eerie and knowledgeable short stories (Seidel 5). Roald’s poetry is both funny and deep, Roald Dahl wrote a total of 27 outstanding poems.