Stuart Little

E.B. White

1/23/2005

Mr. and Mrs. Little of New York City are surprised when their second son come along. He is extremely small and resembles a mouse. They love him despite his appearance and name him Stuart. Stuart quickly grows, although his height barely passes two inches.

Stuart loves New York and keeps himself busy. The Littles learn how to adjust for his size. Snowball, the family cat, learns to leave Stuart alone. But Snowball isn't going to help Stuart when he has difficulties, either. Ask Stuart about the window shade, for example. Snowball knew where he was. Margalo, a beautiful bird, is taken into the Little home. Soon she is Stuart's best friend.

One day Margalo hears about a plot by some neighborhood cats. She flied away before they can catch and eat her. Stuart is desolate. He resolves to run away and find Margalo. Soon he has procured a car and is heading north into the country. Stuart discovers the adventure of life on the road as he continues his search for his friend.

E.B. White is famous for his children's work. These include this book, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and The Trumpet of the Swan. The most recent movie about this adventurous mouse is the one with Michael J. Fox supplying Stuart's voice. It is a book that is an interesting read for children who are into chapter books (somewhere between 2nd and 4th grade, depending on the reader).

Meanwhile, this book is cute, but not great, in my opinion. Perhaps if I had read it as a child my opinion would be different. I never could decide if Stuart really is a mouse or a minature human that looks like a mouse. He is smug. He appears to have not had to go through much babyhood or learning stages. Yet he is affectionate and loyal. Given a choice, I'd rather re-read Charlotte's Web, another classic I didn't read until I was an adult.

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