Last night I finally finished Stuart Little by E.B. White. As much as I wished my little man would sit and read this with me, he's not quite there yet. Last night while I was finishing he did let me tell him about Stuart while he looked at the few pictures in the book.
For years I have been obsessed with Charlotte's Web and would probably consider it one of my all time favorites.I have the dog eared version that my mom bought me in second grade and the insanely expensive Easton Press edition I got as a graduation gift when I finished law school. Right after little man was born we read it out loud together and I spent hours crying my eyes out. This past experience with E.B. White left me a little shocked by Stuart Little. With what little I knew about the book, I was expecting some lesson on acceptance and the overlooking of differences from the book. I guess there was some of that there, but the story itself didn't really offer a series of events leading to an ultimate lesson. Instead, it was more of a compilation of stories about Stuart tied together by his love for adventure and a bird named Margalo.
Despite being unconventional, I loved Stuart Little. I don't know that anyone could not love him after reading about his adventures (and misadventures). What I find most striking about Stuart is the intensity of his emotion which equips him with an uncanny ability to make friends. His desire to be a sailboat captain lead him to walk right up to the doctor and ask him to man the ship. The joy he experiences from being around other people lead him to jump into a teaching job with no questions asked. His desire to make every adventure fit into the image he creates in his mind leads to total devastation when an evening with someone his size falls through. I'm so excited to read this out loud to the little man in a year or two, and I only hope he can pick up on Stuarts sense of joy and adventure. I think he'll love Stuart as much as I do.
Peace
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