Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0064400611, Paperback)

American essayist and novelist E.B. White (1899-1985) made his children's book debut in 1945 with Stuart Little, the picaresque, very funny adventure story of a two-inch-creature who, in White's words, "looks very much like a mouse," but who "obviously is not a mouse [but a second son]." After the story passed the test of his nieces and nephews, Stuart Little made it onto the desk of Harper's distinguished editor Ursula Nordstrom who, in a stroke of genius, matched White's work up with the whimsical art of illustrator Garth Williams. White and Williams's second novel, Charlotte's Web, stars a young girl Fern who saves the life of the runty 13th pig in a litter. Lyrical and profound, it's one of the few books for children that tackles death head-on--while celebrating friendship, affection, and the ordinary passing of time. White's last book for children, The Trumpet of the Swan, illustrated by Edward Francino, was published almost 20 years after Charlotte's Web, and is the unlikely tale of Louis, a mute trumpeter swan named for Louis Armstrong. He compensates for his muteness--and tries to gain the affection of the beautiful swan Serena--by becoming a virtuoso player of a real trumpet. Here, paperback editions of White's three beloved classics are packaged in one boxed set--a time-tested trio guaranteed to win the hearts of children. (Ages 9 and older)