Talking Animals and E.B. White

Some books do a fantastic job at portraying talking animals realistically, and others fail miserably. But what separates the good writing from the bad and how can you tell which stories are succeeding?

In today’s post I’m going to look closely at E.B. White’s three classic children’s books and see how he approaches this situation in them. His stories are about talking animals of all kinds, and they are beloved classics by children of all ages. Two of his books I absolutely adore, but my thoughts on one of them are a little different and I’m interested to hear if anyone else agrees with me.

Charlotte’s Web

Let’s start off with the most beloved classic of all E.B. White’s works. Charlotte’s Web is the much adored story of a pig who is destined to a tragic fate and a spider who is determined to save him. The characters are humorous, the writing is delightful, and the story is a beautiful tale of true friendship. What’s not to love?

The animals in this book have always felt real to me. Wilbur is very much a pig in all his habits and preferences, while Charlotte’s personality is quiet and observant, like a spider is. They balance each other nicely, portraying exactly what I think a friendship between a pig and a spider would be. Nothing outside the fact that the animals can speak feels unrealistic to the reader, and the books are quite realistic as a result.

Stuart Little

The first (and only!) time I read this book was quite a few years ago, and I did not care for it at all! Although I knew and loved the movie, when I read the book I was very sorely disappointed. From the very first I was turned off by the unrealistic situations that brought Stuart, a small mouse child, into the Little family, and it was only downhill from there.

The way I’ve chosen to look at it is this: the reason I found the story so unrealistic is because there is almost nothing that illustrates Stuart’s being an animal besides explaining it. No details back up the point, and as you read the story it’s not much different than it would have been if he had only been a very small child instead of a mouse.

The Trumpet of the Swan

When I think back on the books that have made me laugh until it hurt, this is the book that comes to mind. My mom read it aloud to us for school and I enjoyed the wild adventures of Louis, the trumpet swan who has no voice and must learn to express himself in other ways, from his own personal chalk board to his own trumpet.

Although the animals in this book are certainly much more personified than those in Charlotte’s Web seem to be, they are none the less believable, funny, and entertaining to read. If I had to say why this is I would say it’s the way E.B. White wrote the characters from their natural world before introducing them to the human one. Perhaps this made them more realistic and allowed the reader to permit their imaginations to stretch a little further as a result.

Final Thoughts

I think that the realism of talking animals depends on several different factors. The first is that in most cases the animals must remain true to their natural instincts. I would find it rather hard to believe in a bumble bee that walks around on two legs without a good reason for it. 😉 It is important for them to be seen by the reader as true animals and not just as humans in animal form.

Above all, if an author writes any fantasy regarding talking animals they must understand that they are asking their reader to reach their imagination a little bit further. In order to succeed in doing that successfully, the writing must be proven trustfully realistic in other ways so that the reader will believe in the story.

What are your thoughts on the way E.B. White depicts talking animals? Do you think he pulls it off well in all his books? If so, which ones?