"Friends don't show their love in good times; they do it in bad times." — Euripides.
The classic story of friendship between a spider named Charlotte and a pig called Wilbur is found in Charlotte's Web by E. B. White. Charlotte befriends Wilbur, saves his life, and their friendship endures even after her passing. One of the most important pieces of children's contemporary literature is Charlotte's Web. (Haag and Compton, 2014, p. 76). Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel is a picture book that features five brief stories about the relationship between the two amphibians. The significant difference between a picture book and a children’s book is that in a picture book the story cannot stand independently without the illustration, while can be understood without the need of examples (Aerila and Rönkkö, 2015, p. 349).
For example, Hoffman Theory, active readers suggest that “an active user must be aware of the reading phases that exists before the actual reading and after reading period occur” (Gater, 2014, p. 89). Days with Frog and Toad does not require much of reading because being in picture format it allows a reader to acknowledge the ideas presented (Lobel and Sallis, 1979, p. 81).
The key element used by the two authors in portraying friendship is through love. E. B. White achieves this by constructing a straightforward and sweet story of a spider saving the life of her friend the pig by weaving words of praises in her web (White, 2006, p.45). She also accompanies Wilbur to the circus where she lays her sack of egg and dies shortly afterward. Wilbur then repays Charlotte's kindness and friendship in the only way he can think of: through guarding the egg sack until it hatches. While E.B. White creates a story, Arnold Lobel illustrates one (Jehlen, 2014, p. 54). In Days with Frog and Toad, Arnold Lobel uses Frog’s calm demeanor to help Toad in his hard times and Toad’s emotional nature to show his love for his friend, Frog ('Days with Frog and Toad (Book Review), 1979, p.73). For example, in the chapter, ‘The hat’ Frog gifts Toad a hat for his birthday but it is too big for toad, yet Toad wears the hat so that he does not hurt Frog’s feelings (Jolly, Shine and Greenlees, 2016, p. 76). The moral that we gather from the two stories is that you never expect anything in return for friendship or love. Friendship is the purest form of love.
The real deal here entails getting their attention of the intended audience of not more that ten-year-olds to grasp this concept. The target audience for Charlotte’s Web is mainly for children above three years of age. It portrays friendship, loyalty, and integrity. It also depicts moral values such as standing up against injustice as Fern did when her father was about to kill Wilbur. In a 1969 interview in The Paris Review, E.B. White said, “There is a difference between writing for children and adults. I am lucky, though, as I seldom seem to have my viewers in mind when I am at work. It is as if they didn’t exist” (Dusinberre, 2016, p. 78). He also added “Anyone who writes down to offspring is only wasting his time” (Haag and Compton, 2014, p. 45).
“Children are the most concentrating, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick and congenial readers on earth. They accept almost without question, anything you present them with as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly and openly” (Mantzicopoulos & Patrick, 2011, p. 270). “I handed them to the advice of experts a mouse boy, and they acknowledged it without a quiver. In charlotte’s web, I gave them a literate spider, and they took that” (Jehlen, 2014, p. 43). E B White perceived children as open minded and absorbent. He understands the need of presenting them with good morals and values, so he teaches them the art of friendship, an art only few can master as it is an act of selflessness. He portrays this act of selfless friendship through Charlotte and her purpose of saving Wilbur’s life.
For example, Irresponsible and responsible writer’s theory suggest that “Language may deter readers from looking on positive aspects in books which are of great concern to them thus when inappropriately written the young readers may notice and at times try to use the writer's techniques (Ginnan, Lawrence, Russell and Eggett, 2014, p. 123).” The theory in days with frog and toad does not show a trace of irresponsible writing, but instead a responsible paper because the choice of language is not offensive (Totten, 1998, p. 30).
“Writing is very painful to me,” Gater in an interview in 2014 says. “I have to force myself not to think in visual terms, because I know if you start to think of pictures, I’ll cop out on the text” (Gater, 2014, p. 32). Although when it comes to illustrating the Caldecott, Medal-winning illustrator has different views. “There is a little world at the end of my pencil,” Lobel once said (Johnson, 2014, p. 42). “I am the stage director, the costume designer, and the man who pulls the curtain.”
The Oxford English Dictionary defines plot as “The main events of the play, novel, film or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.”Jonathan Culler in Structuralist Poetics (2002, p. 211) quotes Gerard Genette (1969). Genette says that a story has a teleological determination that “requires one to define every element, every unit of the story by its functional qualities.”
For example, three levels of Ideology theory suggest that “the system of beliefs, fears, world views, values are all linked to concepts of power (Jolly, Shine and Greenlees, 2016, p. 68).” There is evidence exhibited in Days with Frog and Toad because the reader is exposed too much of the content due to the ideological view presentation in pictures that depict Hollandale theory (Hollindale, 1992, p. 17).
Charlotte’s Web is a hundred and ninety-two-page book, its major theme being friendship followed by sacrifice. The plot of the story is based on two types of association. The book begins with Fern, daughter of Farmer Arable, who saves Wilbur from an untimely death for he was born a runt pig. “But it's unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been born small at birth, would you have killed me?” (White, 1952, p.3) After rescuing Wilbur, she takes care of him as her own. When she was not at school, she was with Wilbur. They would do everything together, and such was the nature of their friendship. However, when Wilbur was five weeks old, he had to be sold to Mr. Zuckerman, who lived down the road. Fern used to visit him every day, but she soon lost interest in him and developed an interest for a boy. This is the first type of friendship E. B. White portrays in the book, the one that does not last for long (Maa and Figi, 2014, p. 65).
One day at the farm when it was raining heavily outside, and Fern had not come to visit Wilbur; he felt lonely. Not a single animal was ready to play with him, and he longed for companionship when at night he heard a voice call “Do you want a friend, Wilbur?” (White, 1952, p.30). “I’ll be a friend to you. I have watched you all day, and I like you (White, 1952, p.31).” That was the beginning of a new friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte. Charlotte used to stand up for Wilbur whenever any other barn animal tried to tease him, while Wilbur admired her for her intelligence and wisdom. When the news of Wilbur to be slaughtered for Christmas dinner came around, he grew hysteric and cried “Who’s going to save me?” “I am,” said Charlotte (White, 1952, p.51).” One beautiful day Charlotte came up with a little plan of saving Wilbur from turning into a festive dinner.
She secretly weaves praises of Wilbur into her web, thus attracting publicity in the neighborhood. The neighbors associate the praises to be divine intervention, and as time passes, more blessings appear on her web such as “some pig.” Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton are then entered into the country fair where Charlotte spins an egg sack containing her offsprings. Exhausted after laying eggs, Charlotte dies shortly after Wilbur’s departure. On returning to Zuckerman’s farm, Wilbur guards charlotte’s egg sack but is saddened when the new spiders depart after hatching, except for the youngest three. The book ends by mentioning that coming forth many generations of spiders kept him company.
Even the setting of Charlotte’s Web was a warm and bright: one a big barn, lots of hay, plenty of noisy animals, a handful of insects, throw in some manure, and you’ve got for yourself the Zuckerman’s farm in which Wilbur and Charlotte resided, quite a friendly atmosphere. The farm is an American farmland set sometime before the 1950’s. E.B. White didn’t particularly reveal in which year Charlotte’s Web was set in, but it can be safely assumed it was somewhere before 1952, as the book was published in that year. It can be justified by the lack of any electronic devices in the book, no iPhones, no televisions. There is a good chance that the Zuckerman’s freezer was the only proof of technology present at that time. Good old days, where friends were made in person and not behind a screen using emoticons.
Promoting Good Textual Health theory suggests that ‘‘texts encourage readers to think, reflect and their moderation of understandings of reading itself (Maa and Figi, 2014, p. 24).” Days with Frog and Toad shows evidence of the theory because it requires the learners to understand the relationship that exists between Frog and Toad. (Kanfer, 2003, p.53)
Days with Frog and Toad consists of five short chapters, depicting the theme of friendship through little tales. The first episode, ‘Tomorrow,' shows us Toad who feels lazy to clean his house that is a pile of mess. His pants and jackets were lying on the floor; his kitchen sink was filled with dirty dishes, his chairs were dusty, his windows needed scrubbing. Toad says “I will do it tomorrow” (Thomas, 2016, p. 68). Then he felt small. When Frog asked him the reason, he said because now he’d have to do all his work tomorrow. He then sets to do one chore after another with the hope that he would not have to do it tomorrow and ends up cleaning his house. The first chapter teaches us that friends work in ways you cannot see. Frog did nothing but motivate Toad to clean his house by only making him realize that his house was a mess and that tomorrow would be a rough day for him. By this, we understand that Frog has a real influence on Toad. In the second chapter, ‘the kite,' we see that Frog and Toad are attempting to fly a kite, with Frog holding the string of wool and Toad holding the kite. They tried to fly a kite three times and failed each time. A few robins who were watching their attempts laughed at Toad. Toad feeling embarrassed ran to Frog and complained about the useless kite that would not fly, but each time Frog convinced him to try harder. Finally, on the fourth try, the kite flew, and the Frog said, “If a running try did not work, and a seriatim and waving try did not work, and a consecutively, waving and jumping attempt did not work. I knew that a running, waving, jumping, and shouting try just had to work” (Lobel, 1979, p.24). This chapter teaches us that friends should motivate each other to work harder and not give up easily, the way Frog drove Toad to try harder. People may laugh at your failed attempts, but your friends should encourage you to turn your failure into success. In the third chapter, ‘Shivers’, Frog, and Toad are shown sitting in Frog’s house, with Frog telling Toad a ghost story. The section shows Frog loosening up a little bit from being the parent-friend and teasing Toad a little bit. Whenever Toad asked him whether the story was real, Frog nonchalantly replied, “Maybe yes and maybe not” (Jolly, Shine and Greenlees, 2016, p. 89). “Maybe it did, and maybe it did not” “Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t.” (Jolly, Shine and Greenlees, 2016, p. 43). The section ends with the two of them scared and their teacups shaking in their hand. They had the shivers, and it was a good, warm feeling.
The story has a friendly message that even “shivers” feel good when you share them with a friend. The fourth chapter, ‘The Hat,' is the day of Toad’s birthday, and Frog gifts him a hat. Alas, the hat is too big for Toad, but he wears it, nevertheless. They go out for a walk and Toad trips and falls along the way because the hat covered his eyes and he could not see. In the end, Toad was sad because he could not wear Frog’s present. Therefore, Frog told him to go to bed and think big thoughts so that his head will grow larger and the hat will then fit him perfectly. Toad obeyed him and thought of big things while sleeping. Meanwhile, Frog snuck into Toad’s house, took the hat, poured water on the cap, then put the hat in a warm place to dry. When he was done, the cap had grown smaller. Therefore, Frog went back to Toad’s house and put the hat in its place. Next morning when Toad tried on the hat, it fit him perfectly, and he was happy again. This particular story has a simple and clear message- friends care about each other’s happiness (Garfield, 2007, p. 42). Toad wore the big hat to keep Frog happy, and Frog shrunk the hat to keep Toad happy. The fifth and the last chapter in the book, ‘Alone,' Frog leaves Toad a message that said, “Dear Toad, I am not at home. I went out. I want to be alone” (Lobel, 1979, p.46). On reading that, Toad is upset and wonders why Frog wanted to be alone when he had him for a friend. He searched for Frog everywhere and at last found him on an island in the river. He then rushed back home and prepared sandwiches and made a pitcher of iced tea. He put everything in a basket and hurried back to Frog to cheer him up. He asked a turtle to carry him to the island where Frog was sitting. “If Frog wants to be alone,” said the turtle, “why don’t you let him go?” “Maybe you are right,” said Toad. “Maybe Frog does not want to see me. Maybe he does not want me to be his friend anymore.” “Yes, perhaps,” said the turtle as he swam to the island” (Lobel, 1979, p. 52).
Toad then cried out to Frog and asked him to forgive him for all the dumb things he does and all the silly things he says, and he fell into the river. Frog pulled him out of the water and the basket in which Toad had packed their lunch. He then told Frog that he had prepared it for him so that he would be happy. “But Toad,” said Frog. “I am glad. I am jubilant. This morning when I woke up, I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a Frog, and I felt good because I have you for a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is” (Lobel, 1979, p. 54). They then ended up sitting on the island all afternoon and ate their wet lunch. “They were two close friends sitting alone together” (Lobel, 1979, p.55). The last chapter has a different approach towards friendship. It tells us that friendship should be such that it could be cherished even in times of solitude.
As said by Roland Barthes in his introduction to the important 1966 issue of the Communications, “The notion of character is secondary, entirely subordinated to the concept of plot” (Jehlen, 2014, p. 54). Characters help the reader to relate to the story (Barthes, 1966, p. 12). Though the idea of the character may be subordinated by that of the plot, it would be nearly impossible to reach out to an enormous audience only based on the scenario. Characters bring life to the story. The main characters that depict the theme friendship in the two books are Wilbur, Charlotte, Fern, Frog, and Toad
Example, Politics of Equality theory does not show in Days with Frog and Toad, though it involves a political view of matters and equality in particular works of literature (Churchill, 2006, p. 14). “The protagonist is our self. Other people become in this dream, the antagonist, and the chorus.” – Courtney (The dramatic curriculum, 7, p.65). She also said, “We seek to understand the world that lies outside us. We create dreams fashioned from our ‘inner world.’”
Wilbur, the protagonist in Charlotte's Web, is an emotional and vulnerable pig. Fern saved him from a premature death who then took care of him until he was five weeks old. On being shifted to Mr. Zuckerman’s farm, he befriended Charlotte, the spider. When he first meets her, he is worried about her bloodthirsty ways of preying "Charlotte is fierce, brutal, scheming, bloodthirsty—everything I don't like. How can I learn to like her, even though she is pretty, and of course, intelligent?" (White, 1952, p. 5). However, later on, he understands that she needs to do what she does to survive. He befriends her, and that puts out the message that you could be friends with anyone, even people who do the things you would not normally do. Wilbur admires Charlotte for her wisdom and is keen on learning from her. She even teaches him words like salutation, and he is adamant on learning to weave the web even though he is not made to. Wilbur teaches an important message that friendship is not bounded by diversities. Anyone can be a friend.
The role model of friendship, Charlotte A. Cavatica known just as Charlotte, is a beautiful, wise, and calm headed spider who befriends the pig, Wilbur. She offered him friendship when he was lonely, and remained loyal to him until the end. In the book, we see that when Wilbur realizes that he will soon be slaughtered for Christmas dinner, he becomes hysteric and starts crying. Charlotte shuts him up by saying that she would save him. When Wilbur asks her how she could accomplish that, it appears does not know for sure how, but will keep him safe, and then asked him to stop crying as she didn’t like hysteria. "You shall not die," said Charlotte, briskly. "What? Really?" screamed Wilbur. "Who's going to save me?" "I am," said Charlotte. "How?" asked Wilbur. "That remains to be seen. But I am going to save you, and I want you to quiet down immediately. You're carrying on in a childish way. Stop your crying! I can't stand hysterics." (White, 1952, p. 7) Charlotte had grown fond of the pig and looked after him. One of the key characteristics of Charlotte was her loyalty, and that is what makes her friendship towards Wilbur different from that of Ferns. Unlike Fern, Charlotte did not leave Wilbur and stood by him until the end, and her offsprings carried on her legacy, whereas Fern lost interest in Wilbur and developed an interest in a boy. “Underneath her rather hard and cruel exterior, she had a kind heart, and she was to prove loyal and genuine to the very end.” (White, 1952, p. 41) After all, it is rightly said by Ferrie, “Hard times will always reveal true friends (Jehlen, 2014, p. 87).”
Fern is the daughter of the farmer Mr. Arable at whose farm Wilbur was born. She saves Wilbur from being killed and takes him under her wing. Their friendship is depicted through a mother-child relationship. “Fern loved Wilbur more than anything. She loved to stroke him, to feed him, to put him to bed” (White, 1952, p. 8).
The frog is tall, with a green shade and is more friendly and relaxed than Toad. He is shown as the dominant one out of the two. Being the parent-friend, we see Frog looking after Toad, explaining and encouraging him to do the right thing whether it was cleaning up his house or not worrying about what the Robins said and to try harder to fly a kite.
Toad is short, stout, with a brown shade, and is the most severe and uptight of the duo. He is seen to be dependent on Frog in the book. “There was a particular cruelty in the relationship, in Frog being the controlling one and Toad being controlled” (Ginnan, Lawrence, Russell and Eggett, 2014, p. 35). Their relationship is that of like two brothers, and Toad is like the younger sibling. Toad is evidently insecure and touchy. He quickly gets upset when the robins mock him for his failed attempts at flying a kite and when the turtle tells him not to bother Frog if he did not want to talk to Toad. Toad is emotional. The two complement each other, filling out for each other’s missing pieces, and that is what makes this duo inseparable friends.
In Michael Sims’ book The Story of Charlotte’s Web he tells us how the idea of Charlotte’s Web came to E. B. White’s mind. It is said that “One early fall morning in 1949, E.B. White walked into the barn of his farm in Maine and saw a spider web. That in itself was nothing new, but this web, with its elaborate loops and whorls that glistened with early morning dew, caught his attention. Weeks passed until one cold October evening when he noticed that the spider was spinning what turned out to be an egg sac. White never saw the spider again and, so, when he had to return later that fall to New York City to his job as a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine, White took out a razor blade and cut the silken egg sac out of the web. He put the sac in an empty candy box, punched some holes in it, and absent-mindedly put the box atop his bedroom bureau in New York. Weeks later, a movement on that department alerted him to the fact that little spiderlings were making a Great Escape through the air holes. (Sims, 2011, p. 213)
White was delighted at this affirmation of life, and left the hundreds of barn spider-lings alone for the next week or so — to spin webs from his hair brush to his nail scissors to his mirror — until, finally, the cleaning lady complained.” But there is a twist. This is not exactly the beginning of Charlotte’s Web (Mayer, Brown and Shine, 2014, p. 14). Charlotte’s Web began weaving its web in White’s mind since his lonely childhood for he was the youngest of the seven children his parents had. White is also said to have had anxiety issues which he dealt with writing and in the company of animals. Now you know why he loves writing about animals. For example, Typical and non-typical books theory suggest that ‘‘some books don't usually deliver what is expected of them more so when the young readers read them” (Nelson, Brown and Dubey, 2015, p. 34). The Days with Frog and Toad is an excellent typical book, thus shows evidence of the theory because it enhances readers to understand the story fully.
The background story of an author is necessary to read his writing. There is a story behind each story. Finding inspirations from our day to day life is comfortable. An excerpt from Michael Sims from the Story of Charlotte’s Web tells us that. “I was in the barn that had inspired Charlotte's Web because, a few years earlier, I had been reading E. B. White's collected letters when I ran across his reply to a letter from schoolchildren" (Ginnan, Lawrence, Russell and Eggett, 2014, p. 90). “I didn't like spiders at first, but then I began watching one of them, and soon saw what a magnificent creature she was and what a skillful weaver. I named her Charlotte"."Wait a minute," He said aloud to the empty room. "There was a real Charlotte?"” Yes, there was a real Charlotte. Yes, the barn was real too.” (Nikolajeva, 2015, p. 89)
Coming to Arnold Lobel, during his second grade, Lobel was mostly sick. Thus he was out of school. He kept himself busy by drawing animals and used it as a way of coping with social anxiety regarding his return and making new friends. In his childhood, Arnold was small and sickly. He often made up for his lack of physique by his gift of storytelling. He engaged his classmates in stories he invented. “Frog and Toad are two aspects of myself” (Thomas, 2016, p. 26).
Example, the Reader-response theory suggests, “Readers are active participants who create a work of literature in the process of reading it.” (Brooks & Browne, 2012, p. 74) Reader-response criticism maintains that the interpretive activities of readers, rather than the author’s intention or the text’s structure, explain a text’s significance and aesthetic value Reader-response criticism maintains that the interpretive activities of readers (Poirier, 2000, p. 250). Thomas theory (1998) portrays reader as an active agent to fill in gaps when reading.
Matt Berman from common sense media says, “One of the all- time great classics of children’s literature, this gentle story with its kindly wisdom about friendship and love has survived and prospered even in the digital age” (Visser, 2015, p. 65). Charlotte’s Web has been termed as a classic by many of its readers. Readers have applauded E.B. White for his story and language use, and how effortless he makes it seem. Charlotte’s Web has been recommended a children’s book as it portrays innocence, friendship, integrity, and morals.
However, it is also accepted as a book for all age groups if given a through reading. “Readers have been gawking at the remarking duo since the first book in the series was published” (Webster, 2016, p. 90). The Frog and Toad combo has been a beloved since the beginning of time. The book contains five shorts stories each depicting down to earth adventures that children can relate easily to it. “As a part of receiving our boy to read, we bought this in addition to the boxed Frog and Toad set. These are beautiful, calm, funny, and very legible books. They address life's mysteries without flinching (for example being scared, worry, death, loss, feeling uncertain, the meaning and value of friendship) and for their age group, they are very, very readable (and adults can enjoy reading them aloud without finding themselves bored). I would love to have met Arnold Lobel. He belongs up there with the great children's authors” (Wei and Zhu, 2015, p. 89).
To conclude, I would highly recommend the two book, Charlotte’s Web and Days with Frog and Toad for children as it touches on important themes such as sacrifice, encouragement, understanding, and, most importantly, friendship (Zipes, 2013, p. 90). Friendship is an important quality, a characteristic that every child needs to inculcate to develop a real personality. It improves the interpersonal relationship among children and improves their social skill. Readers learn from reading good books and become, through that interaction, safe and healthy users.
According to Zipes (2013), “Good books, like good groups, are few and chosen, the more select, the more enjoyable” (Zipes, 2013, p. 67). For instance, Margaret Mack Theory Reading Secrets does show evidence in Days with Frog and Toad because it involves a reader finding clues that appear in ideological pictures of the writer (Heitman, 2005, p. 36).
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