"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, August 6, 2020

Review and quotes: SOME WRITER! THE STORY OF E.B. WHITE

Title:
Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Book Beginnings quote:

Friday56 quote:

Summary: A middle-grade biography of the beloved author of Charlotte's Web, E.B. White. The author/illustrator, Melissa Sweet, with the blessing of White's family, used family photos, writings and ephemera to bring the biography to life.

Review: As 2019 was coming to a close I busied myself creating lists of books in different categories and genres to highlight the best of the decade. I considered creating one such list for biographies and memoirs but decided against it because I wasn't sure I'd actually read ten that I actually liked enough to list them. If I were to create that list now Some Writer! would be at the top of the list. I liked everything about it: the colorful chapters that followed White's life from birth to death with personal mementos, samples of writings, and lots of photographs.

I had known previously that White had lived on a farm and got the inspiration for Charlotte's Web from day to day living there. What I didn't know was Charlotte wasn't his first children's book, That honor goes to Stuart Little. And that book came out of stories he told his nieces and nephews to pass the time. I also didn't know that even though he lived in Maine he continued to work for the New Yorker throughout his writing career, writing captions for cartoons and he wrote short articles on current events called "Comments" and "Newsbreaks" which were humorous column fillers that poked fun at errors and typos in their magazine and in other publications. As a journalist he wasn't interested in doing beat work and didn't like having deadlines to find and report stories, so writing short, pithy items was right up his alley.

What White really liked was the quiet life on the farm, building boats and sailing, spending time with his son and wife and doing farm chores.

Some Writer! is a gorgeous book and so inviting. I imagine that children find the book very appealing. In 2018, the year it was published, Some Writer! earned six starred reviews and ended up on several "best books of the year" lists. When I was checking out the Internet for the specifics on those awards I found a list of them separated by exclamation points (!!) The list maker was clearly a fan of E.B. White and his most famous character, Wilbur, or Some Pig!

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City ReaderShare the opening quote from current book.
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e Friday56 is hosted at Freda's VoiceFind a quote from page 56 to share. 

Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material. 
-Anne

18 comments:

  1. Don't feel bad about not knowing all of that; I didn't even know that E.B. White was a man! For some reason, I've always assumed that a woman wrote the book.

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  2. I totally want this book!!! Thanks for reviewing it. :)

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  3. I always thought EB White was a female... shows what I know! Looks like a great read, in a fun way of reading it too! Happy weekend! The linky is live now!

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  4. I haven't heard of this book before. It seems like a great read. Thanks for mentioning it!

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  5. Ooh great review!! Thanks for sharing, I am going to check this one out!
    Here's my Friday Post

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  6. This books looks wonderful!

    I got BBOF posted late, but it is up now if you want to visit and link your post.

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  7. Some Writer! sounds charming :) The style looks so cozy and fun to read. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your week.

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  8. Wow, I love reading books about favorite authors. Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  9. That looks so unique. I have to pick this one up. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier.

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  10. Oh wow- what a lovely looking book! I would get lost in the pretty pages.

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  11. What a great review! This book sounds so good! Thanks for mentioning it! Have a lovely weekend! :)

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  12. Oh this sounds really wonderful! Great choice.

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  13. I adored this book! I love Melissa Sweet's art as well. Thanks for stopping by my post.

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  14. "Charlotte's Web" is one of the top children's books as far as I'm concerned. I knew White wrote for the New Yorker, mostly. And was the second editor of "The Elements of Style" which was written earlier by his teacher, William Strunk. Sounds like a good biography.

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  15. I loved EB White stories when I was young and, after reading Stuart Little, was moved to write to him. I got a newsletter back and was so disappointed. Of course, as an adult, I know he didn't have time to respond, but that feeling has stuck with me.

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  16. I'm just a teensy bit ashamed that it took me way too long to remember who E.B. White was and why that name sounded familiar. Wow. My brain needs a jump start tonight!

    This book looks SO STINKING CUTE and I'm immediately drawn to it. Definitely going to have to look into it, because it looks like it might be a cute addition to our library, especially since kids are still reading Charlotte's Web. :3

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