    charlotte's web is a children's novel by american author e. b. white and illustrated by garth williams; it was published in 1952 by harper & brothers. the novel tells the story of a pig named wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named charlotte. when wilbur is in danger of being slaughtered by the farmer, charlotte writes messages praising wilbur (such as "some pig") in her web in order to persuade the farmer to let him live. written in white's dry, low-key manner, charlotte's web is considered a classic of children's literature, enjoyable to adults as well as children. the description of the experience of swinging on a rope swing at the farm is an often cited example of rhythm in writing, as the pace of the sentences reflects the motion of the swing. publishers weekly listed the book as the best-selling children's paperback of all time as of 2000. charlotte's web was adapted into an animated feature by hanna-barbera productions and sagittarius productions in 1973. paramount released a direct-to-video sequel, charlotte's web 2: wilbur's great adventure, in the u.s. in 2003 (universal released the film internationally). a live-action film version of e. b. white's original story was released in 2006. a video game based on this adaption was also released in 2006. == plot summary == after sparing the life of a piglet almost slaughtered as runt of the litter, a little girl named fern arable nurtures it lovingly, naming it wilbur. on greater maturity, wilbur is sold to fern's uncle, homer zuckerman, in whose barnyard he is left yearning for companionship but is snubbed by other barn animals, until befriended by an araneus cavaticus named charlotte, living on a web overlooking wilbur's enclosure. upon wilbur's discovery that he is intended for slaughter, she promises to hatch a plan guaranteed to spare his life. accordingly she secretly weaves praise of him into her web, attracting publicity among zuckerman's neighbors who attribute the praise to divine intervention. as time passes, more engravings appear on charlotte's webs, increasing his renown. therefore wilbur is entered in the county fair, accompanied by charlotte and the rat templeton, whom she employs in gathering inspiration for he
1952_novels American_children\'s_novels Books_about_friendship Fictional_pigs Fictional_spiders Harper_&_Brothers_books Literature_featuring_anthropomorphic_characters Newbery_Honor-winning_works Works_by_E._B._White