Plant a love of reading that grows for life

Charlotte saved Wilbur with nothing but her silk and her words. In this project, your child weaves a real spider web using yarn, and then writes their own word of praise right in the middle, just like Charlotte did.

1. 1

   Make the spokes.

   Cut 8 small notches evenly around the edge of your paper plate. These are like the anchor points Charlotte uses when she begins a new web.

2. 2

   Thread the spokes.

   Tie your first color of yarn to one notch, then stretch it straight across to the notch directly opposite. Continue crisscrossing until you have a star shape with all 8 spokes connected in the middle.

3. 3

   Weave the spiral.

   Tie your second color of yarn near the center. Weave it over and under each spoke, moving outward in a slow spiral, just like a real spider. Keep it loose enough to look like a web, not too tight.

4. 4

   Write your word.

   Cut a small piece of white paper and write one word that describes someone you love, just like Charlotte wrote HUMBLE, TERRIFIC, and RADIANT for Wilbur. Tie or tape it gently into the center of your web.

5. 5

   Tell the story.

   Hang your web somewhere your family will see it. When someone asks about it, tell them the story of Charlotte and why the word you chose matters to you.

Charlotte's silk was delicate enough to write words, but spider silk is actually one of the strongest materials in nature, pound for pound stronger than steel. This experiment tests how different materials carry weight, just like a spider's web carries dew drops, leaves, and even small insects without breaking.

1. 1

   Set up your bridge.

   Stretch each material one at a time between two chairs or across a doorframe. Make sure each one is the same length and tied the same way at each end.

2. 2

   Add weight slowly.

   Hook a small plastic bag in the middle of each material. Add coins or small objects one at a time. Count how many each one holds before it snaps or sags too much to work.

3. 3

   Record your results.

   Write down how many items each material held. Which won? Did it match your prediction?

4. 4

   Think like Charlotte.

   Real spider silk is thinner than thread but holds more weight than any of these. Ask your child: "If you were designing Charlotte's web, what material from our experiment would you use, and why?"

1. 1. Friendship

   Charlotte worked very hard to save Wilbur even though she knew she was getting weaker. Has someone ever done something really hard for you just because they cared about you? What did that feel like?

2. 2. Words have power

   Charlotte chose words like HUMBLE, TERRIFIC, and RADIANT to describe Wilbur. If someone wove a word into a web for you, what word would you want it to be, and why would that word fit you?

3. 3. What makes a life count?

   Wilbur was about to be turned into bacon, but Charlotte believed his life was worth saving. Do you think every life matters the same amount? What makes a life important?

4. 4. Different kinds of smart

   Charlotte was a spider, not a dog, not a human, but she was the smartest character in the whole barn. What kind of smart was Charlotte? What kind of smart are you?

5. 5. Saying goodbye

   The ending of Charlotte's Web is sad, but also beautiful. Why do you think E.B. White decided to let Charlotte die? What do you think he wanted us to feel, and learn?

Head outside, to your backyard, a park, or anywhere with plants and trees, and find a real spider's web. Then stop and really look at it.

• Look for webs early in the morning when dew makes them easy to spot: on bushes, in corners, between fence posts.
• Notice the shape. Is it a perfect spiral like Charlotte's, or a messy tangle, or a funnel shape? Different spiders build completely different webs.
• Count the spokes if you can. Notice where the spider anchored it. What did it use as a frame?
• Look for the spider if it's there. What is it doing? Waiting? Repairing? Eating?
• Gently blow on the web, watch how it moves. Notice that it doesn't break. That's tensile strength in action.

by Katherine Applegate

Charlotte's Web made you feel the weight of a friendship between creatures who seem very different from each other. The One and Only Ivan gives you that same feeling, but told from the inside. Ivan is a gorilla who has lived in a shopping mall for years. He doesn't ask for much, until a baby elephant arrives and everything changes. Like Charlotte, Ivan finds a way to use the one thing he's good at to save someone he loves. And like Charlotte's Web, this book will make you cry in the best possible way.