In the interest of full disclosure, I never liked Charlotte’s Web as a child. And although I had several copies of it in my classroom, I never once saw a third grader pick it up and read it for fun. BUT I used to read it aloud to first graders and they absolutely loved it. I’m not sure. Maybe there’s something about it that makes it better as a read aloud.
Despite the fact that first graders very much enjoy it as a read aloud, Charlotte’s Web is not easy reading. I would say it was probably the right difficulty for the end of third grade and up. Charlotte uses lots of big words, but as Wilbur isn’t all that bright, he makes her explain, which also helps young readers.
Awesomeness: When Fern is so enamored of spending time at the barn and reports that the animals talk, her mother consults a doctor about her. The doctor is more interested in the wonders of nature than in finding something wrong with Fern. Go Doc!
Not quite so Awesome Doc: He also says she’ll probably stop thinking as much about animals when she become interested in boys ( she’s 8 ) in a year or so. Oh Doc, there’s more to girls than that!
Sex, Nudity, Dating – The doctor suggests that Fern will find boys interesting. Charlotte lays a lot of eggs.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore –Right at the very beginning, Fern’s father takes an ax and heads to the barn to do away with the smallest pig in the litter. Fern’s brother has an air rifle and a wooden dagger. A spider explains (and a picture shows) how she traps a fly for eating. She comments that she loves blood. Templeton the rat would kill a gosling if he got the chance. Wilbur learns that he is being fattened up so he can be killed. It’s explained to him that the pig is shot with a .22. The rat says he doesn’t care if the pig is killed. Charlotte tells a story about how her cousin (another spider) caught a fish in her web, killed it and ate it. The fish’s struggle is related as well. Wilbur dreams that men are coming to kill him with knives and guns. HUGE SPOILER ALERT: In case you didn’t know, Charlotte dies in the end (and she dies alone). It’s part of the life cycle, but nonetheless may disturb some readers.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
I loved this book as a kid, but I could never read the last chapter because I was crying too much; my mom read me the last chapter every time I read it. The funny thing is that I’ve been telling the story to my son as a bedtime story for the past two nights. He’s almost 5; if it works as a read-aloud for first graders, I might give it a try with him.
It might work. I really did read it to more than one first grade class with success. As for my own childhood dislike of it, I strongly suspect that it had a lot to do with that ending. I hated sad things (fine, I still don’t like them all that much) and the end of Charlotte’s Web is plenty sad.