788 reviews for:

Stuart Little

E.B. White

3.57 AVERAGE

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Odd little story. 
It had no really plot, just a bunch of things happening to a mouse who was supposedly part of a human family… odd, like I said. And everyone seems perfectly satisfied that animals can speak, be substitute teachers and own cars, paying for gas. 
It was cute but kinda weird. 
adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A great read-aloud!
funny lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This wasn't bad, but I don't have an emotional attachment to the book from reading it as a kid, and reading it as an adult, it didn't seem like anything special. I didn't realize that this book would be more like a collection of vignettes rather than a coherent narrative. It also just ends abruptly.

The descriptions were interesting. I don't know what it is about imagining life as someone small (The Borrowers; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; etc.) is so fascinating, but I loved how EB White described how Stuart would manage in a human-sized world.
adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I never read this one as a kid, but we've been seeking out lightweight chapter books to read to our almost-5-year-old and this one definitely fit the bill. I thought it was mostly quite charming (and I'm very glad I finally read it), but I did find it a bit too episodic for my taste. I was also bothered a bit (OK, I'll admit it, I've been spoiled by Hollywood storytelling conventions that have trained us to want things at least moderately wrapped up at the end) by the fact that Stuart never achieves - or even seems to care too much - about finding his bird friend, the event that sets him off on his big road trip. On the kid front, Alex was a bit frightened by the part of the boat race chapter where Stuart sails his boat into a paper bag floating in the water...which made him not want to read any more for several days. After we got past that, though, the rest went pretty smoothly.
adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Iconic 

A read aloud with the kids. I laughed a lot in the first half but the second half felt like White didn't know what to do with the story and it ended rather abruptly for me. I don't need things perfectly tied up but was Stuart even grown? Why didn't he say goodbye to his family?

Enjoyable adolescent adventure story, but it has some weird loose ends. Charlotte's Web is White's masterpiece.