Stuart Little

The wild thing about rereading this as an adult is how normal everyone thinks the situation is. This woman gives birth to a mouse, and everyone’s biggest concern is how he’s going to turn on the water tap, or that he might run away through the mouse hole in the pantry. There is no real resolution and Stuart is kind of cranky. I do like how capable and intelligent he is though. And the scene where he shoots the cat to protect his bird friend is excellent.

I was so happily enjoying this book. It was SO good and enjoyable. I loved the little episodic adventures Stuart had in New York and the writing style. I loved Stuart. Then Stuart left New York and it was still alright, until the scenes with the 2 inch girl. Those became weird to me and Stuart suddenly felt very out of character for most of that sequence. Shortly after that, with one more interaction, the book just ends. Its abrupt and unfulfilling. I would be okay if the ending was written better. There didn't necessarily need to be more story, but a better way of writing it would have gone a long way. As a writer I can think of at least 20 different ways I would've written this ending myself. I'm not E.B. White though and I hope he show more had at least a little regret about this ending, because if he didn't, he was not a very attentive writer. Maybe its "organic" like life is, with no distinct end or middle act, but episodic moments that shape us over the course of our lives. Too bad Stuart was basically thrown into the unknown on such a poor note for his ending. The poor mouse deserved better than that, Mr. White. This book is said to be a children's classic, but for me, the concept is better than the execution, making it more of a classic letdown. show less

The story is episodic, with only a loosely connected plot about Stuart the mouse being "born" to a human family, meeting and falling in love with a wounded bird, and then going out into the world to look for her when she flies away out of fear of being eaten by a cat.

Read as a child, and recently listened to the audio version with the family on a long car trip. I highly recommend the recording by Julie Harris. She is a terrific narrator, and the story's gentle humor really comes through in her performance.

I didn't remember how absurd this story was, but it is just as entertaining now as when I was little. My favorite episodes where when Stuart took over as a substitute teacher and when he had a miserable failure of a first date with show more the only other two-inch-tall person he had met. The ending still feels somewhat abrupt, though, stopping in mid-search. We were left wanting more Stuart! show less

Stuart Little is one of those books that's frustratingly hard to rate..... it's so spectacularly outlandish... even for a children's book.... and suffers from many faults.... but, still manages to be entertaining.

Stuart, from all practical stand points, is a mouse.... but, he was born to humans, and it's emphatically repeated that he's not a mouse....nevermind that characters throughout the book call him a mouse. Stuart's proportions in relation to objects and the world around him are oddly inaccurate... he's supposed to be a bit over 2 inches... which is too small for the typical mouse, but no where near microscopic, as is repeatedly insinuated.... his family supposedly can't see him often... then there's the errors in respect to his show more dimensions... he's over 2 inches, but he's too small to carry a dime?? Not to mention the complete absurdity of no one finding it unusual that a human birthed a rodent, the outlandish situations and interactions Stuart experiences... being a substitute teacher after a random encounter with a Superintendent, meeting a Physician and carrying on a conversation with a patient whilst having a tooth extracted, the same Physician having a tiny gasoline powered vehicle to loan Stuart, frequent encounters with random humans, who apparently find it completely normal to conversate with well dressed, well educated mice, meeting an equally tiny human girl... just to name a few.

Despite the exceptional bizarreness of it all, it's still a pleasant read.... and Stuart is extremely lovable and endearing. The true dissapointment comes from the extremely abrupt ending... it's so odd and random... as though E. B White just took a writing break and never came back.

Overall... this is definitely a classic, and worth reading... but, with lower expectations then one may have after reading some of White's other work... ie; Charlotte's Web, one of my childhood favorites. show less

I listened to the audio book during my commute. It put me in a serene mood, which is exactly what I need on I-90 during rush hour, but it did strike me as a lot weirder than I remembered it being. Stuart is like a tiny, sensitive, middle-aged dandy. I love it when he acts as a substitute teacher, and when he takes charge of the schooner Wasp, but I'm annoyed by how prissy he is. Still, E.B. White is a truly lovely writer and that makes up for it.

I got the sense as I was reading that there was a certain... restlessness about the writing. As if the author had a clear idea what he *didn't* want to write, but not a very clear idea of what he did... like there's some internal conflict or ambivalence being worked out on the page. Not necessarily a bad thing! I kind of liked the looseness, the bagginess of the narrative -- its refusal to settle into predictable story beats.
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This tattered, fading, former library copy of Stuart Little was recently uncovered hiding away in my parents' attic. I remember it fondly from my childhood, and am glad to once again have it in my possession.

How can you not love Stuart Little? A small, mousy boy (literally!) born to human parents who constantly finds himself in one adventure after another. From sailing a model ship in Central Park, to almost being permanently lost at see, and even nearly dying several times within his own home; Stuart has quite the thrilling life. Then, he eventually takes this show on the road when his first real friend, a bird named Margalo, takes off for parts North.

It's been so long since I gave this one a read, I had forgotten the serious tone of show more the book. Although, being from E.B. White I shouldn't be surprised. Still, it makes the book that more enjoyable to return to as an adult. show less