A Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider: The Story of E. B. White by Barbara Herkert (review)

In this picture-book biography of the legendary author, White's love of animals is clear from the start, when as a child he befriends a house mouse in his bedroom and turns him into a pocket pal. Poetic text describes the shy boy's preference for the barn over the schoolroom and his early embrace of writing ("The blank page called to Elwyn. Writing filled him with joy"). Eventually as an adult he finds his way out of the city to the farm he always longed for, and that's when his love of creatures turns into Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web. With its celebratory approach, this is a book best suited for youngsters already familiar with White's work; the short ragged-right lines beam with love for his writing ("His stories capture the glory of nature and the comfort of hope") and the joys of attentiveness to the world ("Elwyn's senses sharpened to the ripe scent of manure, the creak of harness leather, the perfect shape of eggs"). Line and watercolor art with some additional textural and digital touches has an unassuming robustness well suited to its subject; figures of humans and animals are sturdily lined and simply expressive, while landscapes open up to a sweeping, softly grainy idyll. Use this to accompany a readaloud of White's classics or as an introduction for youngsters not yet ready for Sweet's Some Writer (BCCB 11/16).