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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
I wish Stuart Little had been my substitute teacher. E.B. White is a genius children's author.
I love Stuart Little its such a cute read my toddler loves it.
Kid lit jazz, for better or worse.
A curious little book that, today, seems an unlikely candidate for a classic of children's literature. Stuart Little is a series of vignettes, starting from the high premise of a mouse who is a child of a human family. The first paces are what you'd expect: Stuart can fit down the drain, sleeps in a cigarette box, and has a tense relationship with the family cat. His size enables some local adventures before the main narrative thread begins - Stuart's relationship with and quest for the bird Margalo. Even then, Stuart spends as much time in unrelated interludes as he does on his journey.
The result is a feel of jazz-like noodling, as White riffs and elaborates on the book's premise. This is underscored by the book's playfulness (culminating in a miniature, fully-functional car with an invisibility button), droll conversational tone, and Stuart's self-serious attitude. And like many a jazz performance, it ends abruptly, with Stuart driving off into the New York countryside after a philosophical rumination on travel with a telephone lineman. We never learn if he finds Margalo.
Whether today's readers will enjoy the book depends on their openness to this improvisational form and tone. It's an imaginative, trope-defining book, and its vignetted style make it great for bedtime reading. But the lack of a clear narrative arc, moral reward, or outright hilarity makes it a likely head-scratcher for today's family readers.
A curious little book that, today, seems an unlikely candidate for a classic of children's literature. Stuart Little is a series of vignettes, starting from the high premise of a mouse who is a child of a human family. The first paces are what you'd expect: Stuart can fit down the drain, sleeps in a cigarette box, and has a tense relationship with the family cat. His size enables some local adventures before the main narrative thread begins - Stuart's relationship with and quest for the bird Margalo. Even then, Stuart spends as much time in unrelated interludes as he does on his journey.
The result is a feel of jazz-like noodling, as White riffs and elaborates on the book's premise. This is underscored by the book's playfulness (culminating in a miniature, fully-functional car with an invisibility button), droll conversational tone, and Stuart's self-serious attitude. And like many a jazz performance, it ends abruptly, with Stuart driving off into the New York countryside after a philosophical rumination on travel with a telephone lineman. We never learn if he finds Margalo.
Whether today's readers will enjoy the book depends on their openness to this improvisational form and tone. It's an imaginative, trope-defining book, and its vignetted style make it great for bedtime reading. But the lack of a clear narrative arc, moral reward, or outright hilarity makes it a likely head-scratcher for today's family readers.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.5 stars because I have no idea how to feel about the ending
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Creative but odd--I mean, a mouse born to people? Otherwise pretty cute, though the ending is almost unfinished sounding--and quite thoughtless of the mouse not to consult his parents.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated