A Boy, a Mouse and a Spider: The Story of E.B. White by Barbara Herkert. Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

“Andy filled his barn with stoic sheep, anxious hens, and gossiping geese. But he still had a mouse on his mind.”

“Andy repaired a roof while another story brewed inside him. He raised a pig and wondered, what if the creature was rescued from a farmer’s deadly plan?”

“One cold October evening, Andy watched a spider spin. He climbed a ladder for a closer look. He’d found the hero of his story.”

In addition to giving readers the basic outlines of the life of beloved author E.B. White, this lovely and colorful picture book biography also tells about the genesis of White’s ideas for his most popular stories, Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web. (No swans are mentioned.) Andy is the nickname his fellow journalists gave to newspaper writer, essayist, children’s author Elwyn Brooks White, and his ideas came from his love of animals, his farm in Maine, and “his love of boats, cars, skating, and travel; his love of morning and summertime.”

Any child who adores Charlotte’s Web or Stuart Little would be enthralled by this simple biography which uses brief sentences to paint a picture of a boy who faced his fears and a man who found his life’s work in the “power of words” and “the glory of nature.” Ms. Herkert uses words as Ms. Castillo uses pictures to give us a portrait of Mr. E.B. White that will linger in the mind just as Charlotte and Wilbur and Stuart linger and enlighten and give joy.

Definitely recommended.

If you are interested in purchasing ($5.00) a curated list of favorite picture book biographies with over 300 picture books about all sorts of different people, email me at sherryDOTpray4youATgmailDOTcom. I’m highlighting picture book biographies in March. What is your favorite picture book about a real person?