 "A small human animal growing up among giants - kids can relate" | 2009-05-31 |
| - Reviewed By sanger1 |
I just finished reading the book to my little boy. He did say, at the end, "I want to read more about Stuart Little," but I told him there wasn't a sequel. He's young enough to just accept that. I think the story is really meant for very small children and other people who are able to read, accept, and evaluate on its own merits. Little kids are great in their ability to do that.
As for Wikipedia's explanation of the abrupt and unsatisfying ending, the current version of the article doesn't give any source, so I would give that factoid a 25% chance of being true.
The book is a fantasy. It doesn't matter how Mrs. Little might give birth to a mouse. (Would she even notice that she was giving birth to a newborn mouse?) The premises are (1) Stuart Little is a full (birth) member of the family, (2) he is a mouse, (3) but he is as smart as or smarter than a boy, (4) ordinary people are not surprised by a talking mouse (or by 2-inch-high girls, either), and (5) he can grow up (or at least grow reasonably competent) fast, so he can leave home and drive north at age 7 or whatever it is.
Sure that's a bizarre set of premises to ask somebody to accept, but if you think about it in a certain way, it makes sense. Imagine someone thinking, "What would it be like to grow up two inches high? Well, you'd be as small as a mouse...so what would it be like to be a human but growing up as a mouse? A mouse, by the way, that has all the spunk and independence of a very bright, competent, independent-minded boy." Well, all the premises behind the book follow from that suggestion.
There does seem to be a problem in how the book ends so abruptly, without answering some crucial plot questions. It is quite possible that White intended to finish it, but considering that he lived for another 40 years, he must have felt satisfied with leaving it as it was, and so that was his artistic intention -- to leave it "unfinished." There's just one reasonable interpretation of that, which is very clear from the last few pages of the book: the message of the book is that, if you have courage and spunk, you'll get along fine in this long, strange, still unfinished journey called life.
I like neat, satisfying, life-fulfilling endings more than most people, I imagine, and so for a little while I was disturbed by the end, but I've decided that Stuart gets along just fine and probably even finds what he's looking for. The unfinished nature of the story poignantly underscores the unfinished nature of life itself. |
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| "A Little Confused" | 2009-05-23 |
| - Reviewed By jonejinx |
A great book and my children (ages six and three) loved hearing me read it. Nothing like the movies but there are some familiar characters. The Littles, Stuart, Margalo, and Snowbell were all there and the movie's characterizations were faithful to the book. But the story's ending was not nearly so much on the 'happily ever after' stuff. Not bad, mind you, but my impression of the book's theme was that of growing up and going out on one's own. Independence, if you will. The movies were more morality plays with lessons learned in the end but no real character growth. Perfect for sequels I guess.
One part did throw me, however: In the author bio on the back cover it states that White began writing for his niece when she was six but by the time he finished she was grown and reading Hemingway. What, was she seven? |
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| "¡En Español! Por un niño de tercer grado." | 2009-01-26 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
Stuart Little Por: E.B. White
Stuart Little es un ratòn y su familia es humana. Stuart Little es un ratòn muy valiente. Stuart Little es un buen amigo con un pàjaro y su nombre es Margalo. Margalo es un pàjaro bonito. Margalo pierdese y Stuart viene a encontrarla. Stuart fue en muchas adventuras cuando estaba buscando a Margalo. Fue divertido leer todo lo que Stuart hizo cuando estaba buscando a su amiga Margalo.
Mi parte favorito del libro fue cuando Stuart fue substituto. Todos los niños le gustaron a Stuart para un maestro. ¡Yo pienso que seria divertido tener Stuart Little para un maestro!
La parte que no me gustò mucho fue cuando Stuart estaba buscando a Margalo el fue al oficina de dentista para pedir ayuda. Si yo estaba buscado a Margalo yo no irà al oficina de dentista para pedir ayuda.
Yo darè 5 estrellas ***** al libro porque me gustò leyendo de Stuart Little.
Stuart Little (Spanish-language version) (Spanish Edition) |
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 "classic" | 2008-11-23 |
| - Reviewed By msmoby |
I'd never read this book, so when I found it among the kids' books, I decided to give it a shot. And yes, I feel guilty for not having read it to my kids when they were small. Not to worry--I read to them a lot, just not this one, possibly because I wasn't familiar with it myself.
I'm sure everyone already knows the plot--my ignorance notwithstanding, it is a classic children's story. It's not the same as the movie, by the way--which I haven't seen, but I've heard about.
The Littles' second child turns out to be a mouse. The story tells about his struggles living as a mouse in a human household, and then about his adventures when he leaves home to find his bird friend.
It's very much a product of its times--written in 1945, it's a completely different style from most current children's books. The language isn't dumbed down for children, nor does the story have a sugary-sweet ending that seems a requirement nowadays. At the same time, it's not a story for adults. Stuart is obviously meant to be identified with by young children, and his adventures involve situations and emotions that will be familiar to them.
I do wish I'd read it to my kids when they were small. Maybe I'll hang on to it for eventual grandchildren. |
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| "A classic - but not perfect" | 2008-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By belacane |
| As an adult I normally loathe stories with talking animals, animals who reason, etc. I'm also not that fond of mice! But "Stuart Little" is done in an engaging way, and it's far better than the live-action movie of the same name. The story is a little more serious and less action-oriented, and the book as a whole is evocative of a simpler time. |
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 "Not for anyone over Six" | 2008-07-02 |
| - Reviewed By godsfool |
I see the reading level as 9-12. Yikes! If Harry Potter is 9-12, then Little should be 1-3. I did love the beginning of this story. There is no explanation as to why a human mother presumably gives birth to a mouse instead of a human child. The story goes on without anymore reference to it. As if this is just the way it was. End of discussion. I loved that! Funny. And the writing is charming, to be sure, but the story just goes on without getting anywhere. It's one adventure after another without an end in sight. No goal. That's my trouble with Stuart Little.
To explain the sudden and unsatisfying ending, I did hear that the author, White, was quite a hypochondriac. At the time of this book's writing, he was convinced he was going to die at any moment, (He ended up living a number of decades after Stuart Little was first published.) So, fearing certain death, White demanded the publisher to publish the book now!, as is, "before I die tomorrow!" Amazing, but true. |
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