I agree with you on the usefulness of spiders on the buzzy bug thing. Plus when you live in the country, you just have to consider them a fact of life.

You are also absolutely right about hollywood not being able to capture the essence of most literary work. But, as your experience demonstrates, it is often a matter of perspective. We bought the animated version for the kids a couple years ago because my partner remembered it fondly from his childhood. I had never seen it and was not impressed. Similarly, my niece and nephew think the old Willy Wonka movie is superior to Tim Burton’s “Charlie” which I believe to be an instant modern classic and see new layers and nuance with every viewing.

Charlotte’s Web was a very key book for me growing up, as were the other White classics, Stuart Little and Trumpet of the Swan. Swan was always my favorite. I’ve long refused to see the recent Stuart Little films, because they look absolutely nothing like the book I am so fond of. As for the ’saccharine’ animated Charlotte’s Web, well… I have to confess a fondness for it. I watched it a lot growing up, beginning with when I was a very young child.

I haven’t seen the new one, yet…

Given the sort of melancholy and taste for simple beauty that EB White was fond of expressing, I think the likelihood of Hollywood ever making a faithful adaptation of one of his books is, sadly, very slim.

I have a sad update. Charlotte was not on her web this morning when the kids went out to wait for the bus. They were the ones who noticed her absence. They are sad because I think they know she has probably left for good.