Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Description taken from Amazon: Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte’s Web, high up in Zuckerman’s barn. Charlotte’s spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur’s life when he was born the runt of his litter.
E. B. White’s Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. It contains illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White’s Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, among many other books.
Challenged and/or Banned:
Bans and Challenges are primarily due to religious objections to its portrayal of talking animals, which some consider unnatural and some say are sacrilegious. The death of the spider Charlotte is considered inappropriate for children’s books.
- Talking animals: Some religious objections stem from the belief that only humans should be able to speak, and that depicting animals with human-like speech is blasphemous.
- Themes of death: Critics have cited the death of Charlotte the spider at the end of the book as “inappropriate subject matter” for children and concerns about exposing children to sensitive topics like death.
- Overall concerns: These issues reflect broader anxieties about what themes are appropriate for young readers and have led to challenges and bans, particularly in some school districts