A pleasing look at the life of E. B. White spins fragments and memories and anecdotes drawn from numerous sources into a narrative in which his love of the natural world and of words merge, resulting here in two of the stories for which he is best known: Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web. Other aspects of White’s life are also touched on, from his anxiety to college journalism days to his work at The New Yorker. But it’s his love of nature, whether as a boy in the barn or on his Maine farm in adulthood, that will most captivate readers, especially as it connects to the books with which they may be familiar. “Andy filled his barn with stoic sheep, anxious hens, and gossiping geese. But he still had a mouse on his mind.” Congenial mixed-media illustrations accompany a narrative that concludes with a substantial note providing more about White’s life, and a bibliography. (Ages 6-9)

A lyrical biography of E. B. White, beloved author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, written by Barbara Herkert and illustrated by Caldecott honoree Lauren Castillo.

When young Elwyn White lay in bed as a sickly child, a bold house mouse befriended him. When the time came for kindergarten, an anxious Elwyn longed for the farm, where animal friends awaited him at the end of each day. Propelled by his fascination with the outside world, he began to jot down his reflections in a journal. Writing filled him with joy, and words became his world.

Today, Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web are beloved classics of children’s literature, and E. B. White is recognized as one of the finest American writers of all time.

A Christy Ottaviano Book