Review by New York Times Review
AN ILLUSTRATED BOOK for children about a writer who wrote children's books with illustrations seems an oddly special and self-enclosed genre, but "Some Writer!," Melissa Sweet's book about the life and work of E. B. White, is still a pretty good one. Despite a title that feels a bit too coyly obvious - mirroring, as it does, the most famous line in White's book "Charlotte's Web," where Charlotte the spider writes "Some Pig!" in her web to promote the doomed Wilbur - "Some Writer!" certainly will fulfill kids' natural curiosity about the author of a "classic" that, unusual thing, still really works for them. It may also, though, give them a slightly misleading version of White's accomplishment. Undertaken as a labor of love, with the approval of the White family (White's granddaughter, Martha, contributes an afterword), "Some Writer!" may leave kids reading this book, I'm afraid, with too fixed a sense of White as an upcountry tale-spinner, a wholesome patch from an American quilt, and too little of the sophistication and quiet audacity of his mind. Assembled as a kind of mock old-fashioned scrapbook, in a crowded, home-spun style mixing old snapshots and new drawings, Sweet's book begins with the incidents of White's early life that left him permanently scared, if not scarred, by public speaking or a public presence of any kind. (An embarrassing incident with a Longfellow poem in grade school kept him offstage for life.) She takes him from his upbringing in suburban New York to his years at Cornell, where he met Professor William Strunk, whose guide to good writing White would later adapt as the classic "The Elements of Style." Then comes a perhaps too-brief look at what some might think is White's greatest accomplishment, his work as a stylist in the 1930s and '40s for The New Yorker. White invested his sentences with a new kind of wry simplicity that became a model for a lot of 20th-century American prose. He wrote as a wide-eyed outsider to New York and its anxieties, and that let him say many things that the ornate "insider" prose of the Algonquin circle, which had dominated the magazine, could not. His friendship with James Thurber is mentioned and that they "loved each other's stuff," but - perhaps understandably in a book meant for ages 8 to 12, perhaps too prudishly in a book meant to tell them biographical truth - not the title, much less the matter, of the collaborative book that made them famous: "Is Sex Necessary?" The bulk and heart of Sweet's book, though, is spent telling how White's two best children's tales, "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little," along with the third, only slightly less good one, "The Trumpet of the Swan," came into being, the latter two after his semiretirement to Maine. Even those who think they know the books well will learn a lot, and enjoy them more, for reading Sweet. She tells the story of how Harold Ross objected to the idea that Stuart, the dapper mouse, was born to the Little family - White should have said that he was adopted - and of how White in later editions compromised, wonderfully, with "arrived." She takes us through White's many beleaguered drafts of the first sentence of "Charlotte's Web": First, "Charlotte was a gray spider who lived in the doorway of a barn"; then "I shall speak first of Wilbur"; only to arrive at last at the active, scene-setting, "Where's Papa going with that ax?" There can be few better demonstrations of why good writers rewrite, and how a good writer knows when he's finally got it. MAKING MUCH, and not wrongly, of the pastoral charm of the book, Sweet does not, perhaps, sufficiently underline its ironic, dryly witty and, in its own muted, stoical manner, even tragic aspect. There are not many more poignant deaths in American literature than Charlotte's, and the book, from that dread-filled first sentence, is all about death - the Christmas murder of animals, the brutal messiness of the farm and the real circle of life, dramatized in a manner considerably more acid than the benevolent circles of life in "The Lion King." The real circle of life, Charlotte reminds us, is not so much a circle as a chain - forever being broken so that no one link stays in for long. "Will the circle be unbroken?" the hymn asks, and White's answer is that it breaks every day, with look-alike new links sneaking in overnight, so that what looks like renewal is really replacement. Charlotte's children extend Charlotte's influence in Wilbur's life, but they're not Charlotte. That so many generations of American kids have been stirred and moved by a book with such a "morbid" subject is a reminder that what kids like is emotional truth, even when wrapped up in animal fable. We "protect" them at our peril. One should also note that "Charlotte's Web" is, in the first instance, a satire of modern advertising: In truth, Wilbur is not "Some Pig." He's just a pig. White's point is that Charlotte is some writer. So if we go on reading White, and we should, it will be as the owner of a disabused mind and a fine, clear eye, not as a lovable backwoods bard. Nothing worse can happen to a fine writer than to be turned into a piece of Americana. ADAM GOPNIK is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of two fantasies for children, "The King in the Window" and "The Steps Across the Water"
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [November 13, 2016]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* On the heels of her award-winning collaboration with Jen Bryant, The Right Word (2014), Sweet turns her attention to another notable wordsmith, E. B. White. With a particular focus on his idyllic childhood spent around lakes in Maine and his career as a writer and editor at the New Yorker, Sweet highlights White's affection for animals and the outdoors as well as his love of words, all of which directly influenced his writing for children. In particular, she zeroes in on the respite of his Maine farm, where he encountered the animals that would come to populate his most well-known work, Charlotte's Web. Sweet ties together elements of White's life in both pleasantly rambling prose and enchanting illustrations constructed from found objects, collage, and watercolor scenes. Photos, handwritten letters, early drafts, and other ephemera, along with artfully typed out quotes from White's work, are layered over each inviting page. White's story reluctant about his rising fame, infamously shy, not especially ambitious but driven to pursue what he deeply enjoyed is ideal for kids who relish staying out of the limelight. This beautiful piece of bookmaking with enchanting artwork will easily draw in young readers, and the warm account of the adored author will keep them turning pages.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In an illustrated biography that invites slow perusing, two-time Caldecott Honor-recipient Sweet (The Right Word) unspools the life of author E.B. White (1899-1985) in meticulously crafted, scrapbook-style pages. Her carefully assembled, whimsical collages feature watercolor illustrations, homemade paper, wood scraps, and maps merged with cartoons, family photographs, handwritten rough drafts, and other archival material. Over 13 chapters, Sweet recounts White's near-idyllic childhood in New York state, his postcollege wanderlust, a writing career with the New Yorker and Harper's magazine, and the acclaimed children's books he created amid marriage and fatherhood. Aimed at elementary-school-age readers, this fond tribute will be best appreciated by those with some context for White's classics, e.g., the title's reference to Charlotte's Web, though familiarity with his work isn't required: Sweet gorgeously melds story and art to create a detailed portrait of White as an observant, humble, brilliant wordsmith with an affinity for nature. An author's note, an afterword by White's granddaughter, source notes, a selected bibliography, and a chronological list of his books conclude an excellent guide to the life of a celebrated writer. Ages 7-10. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-Throughout his life, E.B. White (1899-1985) divided his time between New York City and Belgrade Lakes in Maine. He drew inspiration for his books from the bucolic setting near author Sweet's own home and studio. Readers and writers will relate to stories of White's childhood-he was "scrawny" and "fearful" but in love with words. As a child, he contributed short pieces to magazines, winning awards for his studies of nature, dogs, and his family. Some of his youthful creations, such as essays, poetry, and a handmade brochure, are included. Readers may be surprised to find that "Andy" spent his adult years at The New Yorker working with writers like John Updike and James Thurber and that his most ubiquitous book may actually be The Elements of Style. Much of the information on White's adulthood is organized in the volume by his major children's publications. Portions of handwritten and typed drafts of Charlotte's Web will serve as inspiration for young writers. The book is illustrated in Sweet's signature watercolor and collage, which incorporates wood and hardware, vintage office supplies, and quotes from White. Detailed tableaux invite careful inspection and reward readers with connections to the subject's work. Photos of the author and the animals upon which he based his stories will delight readers. In addition to providing carefully chosen words and beautiful illustrations, the biography serves as a stealthy introduction to primary source material, and for the teacher librarian, the text is a rich source of nonfiction features, including a how-to on using a manual typewriter. An afterword by White's granddaughter is an added bonus. VERDICT Drop everything and share widely.-Deidre Winterhalter, Niles Public Library, IL © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Salutations! Sweet raises her collage skills to new heights while bringing her love and admiration for fellow Mainer E. B. White to the page for everyone to appreciate. Just as her astounding collages blend materials that might have been found in a barn in Maine, the text carefully blends her words with those of the beloved writer of childrens books, New Yorker essays, and The Elements of Style (the essential treatise on grammar, co-written with William Strunk). One can imagine Sweets studio filled with snippets of quotations from Whites works ready to find the perfect place on her pages, to meld seamlessly with her words and bring the story of his life to a new generation of readers and admirers. Sweet has written and drawn a fast-moving, thorough, deeply researched, and accessible biography. Whites own words are signaled by a typewriter font, and each quote is accompanied by a simple tan label that sets it off from the main text without being distracting. Charming photographs of young White, whether he is playing the mandolin, gliding in a canoe, or dangling from a log over a river, additionally inform the reader about his childhood and young adulthood, making the origins of his writing come alive. Sweet inserts just the right amount of detail about his personal life (for instance, his wife Katherine Angell divorced in order to marry White) but is never gossipy. In the end, whether readers are weeping at Whites death or smiling at stepson Roger Angells wry memorial comments, they will rejoice that Sweet has caught up with an old favorite in White. With this book, we all have. robin smith (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
