Stuart Little
by E.B. WhiteSign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
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Today's The New Yorker carries one of the saddest stories I have read in a long time. THE LION AND THE MOUSE, by Jill Lepore tells about the battle that reshaped children’s literature.. Anne Carroll Moore essentially invented what we know today as children's libraries and librarianship. The good she did moved mountains. But in 1945 she misjudged a changing world and took on E.B. White's Stewart Little as a personal battle against the modern pollution of children's literature....more
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I never read this one as a kid, but we've been seeking out lightweight chapter books to read to our almost-5-year-old and this one definitely fit the bill. I thought it was mostly quite charming (and I'm very glad I finally read it), but I did find it a bit too episodic for my taste. I was also bothered a bit (OK, I'll admit it, I've been spoiled by Hollywood storytelling conventions that have trained us to want things at least moderately wrapped up at the end) by the fact that Stuart never ac...more
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recommends it for:
everyone
This is the first book that ever blew my mind - by far my favorite children's novel. One thing I look for in a book, I've realized, is a knockout ending - a book better have a good payoff.
I don't want to spoil the ending here, but when my ten-year-old self got there, I couldn't believe it. How could E.B. White leave it like that? How can he leave so much unanswered? Moreover, how could he do that and still have it be so powerful and work so effectively?
I still am moved every time I read ...more
I don't want to spoil the ending here, but when my ten-year-old self got there, I couldn't believe it. How could E.B. White leave it like that? How can he leave so much unanswered? Moreover, how could he do that and still have it be so powerful and work so effectively?
I still am moved every time I read ...more
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Read in January, 1976
recommends it for:
read aloud for boys
A vivid book that is very different than White's other books, which feature regular animals acting like animals. Not Stuart Little. He's a mouse, but he doesn't act like one.
Stuart getting stuck in the blind, Stuart's boat getting trapped in a paper bag in the pond, Stuart's family thinking he is somewhere down in the drain - all this is pretty weird. And then, he goes on the road looking for Margalo, takes a job as a teacher (what kind of credentials does he have?) and gets a crush on a tiny...more
Stuart getting stuck in the blind, Stuart's boat getting trapped in a paper bag in the pond, Stuart's family thinking he is somewhere down in the drain - all this is pretty weird. And then, he goes on the road looking for Margalo, takes a job as a teacher (what kind of credentials does he have?) and gets a crush on a tiny...more
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This was actually a really strange book. Mrs. Little apparently gave birth to Stuart Little who looks exactly like a mouse. I assumed they would have just adopted a mouse as part of the family. This "baby" also matures at the rate of a mouse and likes to wear dapper cloths. The book is basically a series of vignettes that seem to have been added just as the author thought of them without and attention to a progressive story-line. I guess, in essence they are pure whimsy. That sai...more
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Read in February, 2008
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Read in February, 2008
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Read in March, 1989
The first book I ever truly despised, and therefore a true touchstone of my literary education. Specifics are murky, and a fair synopsis of the classic is much harder to summon than the vivid memory of a seething preadolescent anger and sublime, insoluble boredom during the moments of this novel's completion. A crucial early lesson in disappointment and the necessity of defining one's "taste". However flimsy that notion of personal taste has proven to be, one thing is for certain: I ha...more
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Read in June, 2008
I read this book with my 5 yr old son. He really enjoyed it. This is the first book we've read together that has chapters so it was interesting to see if he'd be able to follow the story over a longer time period and he was able. I didn't like it that much myself, some of the "adventures" of Stuart seemed like irrelevant detours to me, but the intended audience, my son in this case, liked it so I was glad of that. A lot of the vocabulary is outdated but at least for my son, it was...more
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E.B. White is a phenomenal author, his endearing characters and wit have been entertaining children for years, which is why I was surprised to find that I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. Yes it was witty, and yes Stuart is an adorable character, but I was disappointed with the ending for one, and secondly I am almost positive that although I could understand his humor, it would be lost on a child. Glad I read this book, but not as good as some of his others.
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Read in January, 1987
recommends it for:
Anyone fascinated by miniatures
Even as a kid, I loved the straight-faced whimsy of this book. "When Mrs. Fredreick C. Little's second son arrived, everybody noticed that he...looked very much like a mouse in every way," but instead of consulting geneticists and endocrinologists, the Littles simply go about providing Stuart with teeny-tiny furniture and clothes until the day that Stuart sets out to seek his fortune. I think this is the best sort of adventure novel for young middle readers.
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I definitely loved this book much more as a kid than I do as a grownup. (In fact, in college, I was much surprised by how much I disliked the ending.) The original joy has much to do with the way our teacher read it to us. I still remember certain lines in her voice.
In college, I babysat a six year old for whom this was her favorite book. When asked why, she said, "I like books that are creative. Stuart Little is born as a mouse. That's creative."
In college, I babysat a six year old for whom this was her favorite book. When asked why, she said, "I like books that are creative. Stuart Little is born as a mouse. That's creative."
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Read in October, 2007
This book can be read easily in an afternoon, (and there are great pictures!) so if you haven't read it yet, I highly suggest that you do. Charming, thoughtful, and funny, this book is a paean to manners, friendship, loyalty and the open exchange of ideas. The consummately helpful and polite Stuart will make you chuckle and think along with him the whole way.
Having read this for the first time this year, it is easy to see why Stuart Little is a classic.
Having read this for the first time this year, it is easy to see why Stuart Little is a classic.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone!
I have this book on audio cassette in my classroom. I never tire of it. It makes me cry every time I hear the end. The kids all love it. They are never tired of it either. It's one of the most moving and beautiful stories out there. I think I find more and more metaphors each time I listen to it. I highly recommend reading it. It's so short. Or get the CD or tape or download it. I think it's like 3 hours long. It might very well move you to tears.
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Read in March, 2008
I really enjoyed reading this book to Aaron. Two main things: first, he is a mouse born to human parents--wears clothes, talks, etc, but everyone treats him perfectly normally and well. He seems to be the only one concerned with the fact that he is a mouse. I also thought it was thought-provoking that he meets a lovely, sweet girl just his size in a town he adores but doesn't stay to hang out with her. He just drives off into the sunset.
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Read in February, 2008
We're still plodding along with this one. It's well-written, and if I were rating it for myself I'd probably give it 4 stars, but for a first read aloud to a preschooler, it's a tad dated. There are plenty of spots we have to stop and discuss what's happened. Not that that's a bad thing; it's just on the challenging end. But at least we will finish this one--unlike the Mouse and the Motorcycle, which I couldn't bear to finish.
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Read in August, 2007
I had never read this book and only decided to read it because it was mentioned a lot in the John Irving book I just finished.
It was a nice quaint story of lost love and adventure. I even garnered a quote from the book that I really like, although I can't quite quote it verbatim: "Those who are looking for something tend to move very slow." Just about sums me up.
Next, it's Charlotte's Web by the same author.
It was a nice quaint story of lost love and adventure. I even garnered a quote from the book that I really like, although I can't quite quote it verbatim: "Those who are looking for something tend to move very slow." Just about sums me up.
Next, it's Charlotte's Web by the same author.
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Read in July, 2008
As much as I loved Charlotte's Web as a child, I never read E.B. White's other children's classic, and now that I've read it to my kids, I don't think I missed out. My kids and I laughed at the school scene and were excited at the boat race scene, but the inconclusive ending didn't do anything for any of us. I think E. B. White wrote this as a bunch of playful sketches. There didn't seem to be much of a plot.
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Another one Momma didn't care for much (high expectations after Charlotte's Web), but it definitely captured Aidan's imagination. He created several "Stuarts" out of cardstock, and insisted on it being treated as part of the family. He also "built" his paper Stuart an airplane and two boats (I admit, I'm a bit impressed with the boats--I've promised to take him to Mill Creek and see if they float).
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Somehow I missed this class book as a kid, but I've remedied that now. When Mr. and Mrs. Little's second child turns out to be a mouse, they are understandably surprised but no less loving. They create a mouse-sized bed, mouse-sized clothes, and even buy mouse-sized toiletries. Stuart is brave and kind and he has many adventures. I liked it, but I wasn't expecting the end to come quite so suddenly.
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