Charlotte

I took the last few days off from blogging--I got told I have mono and a sinus infection, so I've been doing a lot of sleeping.  But I did pull an old classic off the shelf to focus on for today.  I am not a fan of spiders, but who can help but love Charlotte's Web?  EB White's classic is more about the love of friendship than it is about spiders, thankfully! 

Wilbur is born the runt of his litter, saved by eight-year-old Fern.  She pleads with her father, a farmer who is going to put the poor thing down, and he relents.  Fern hand raises Wilbur for about a month, then sells him to her Uncle for six dollars.  Wilbur grows and thrives at Zuckerman's farm, but as he grows and gets plump, he begins to worry about being killed for bacon in the winter!

Wilbur also desperately wants a friend, and he finds one in Charlotte, a grey spider who lives in the barn with him.  When he worries, she comes up with a scheme to protect him.  "Some Pig," she writes in her web.  Wilbur becomes famous.

But the sad part, which is also comforting, is the end.  Charlotte lays her egg sack and dies, but Wilbur is determined to protect all 514 babies within.  The next spring they hatch and leave him alone again, except for three. 

There's no deep message coming from me tonight.  I just want you to dig back into some classis, and enjoy this beautiful story.  It won't take you long to read, I promise!