Ithaca re-spins White’s web
In Ithaca, March may come in like a lion but it’ll go out like a spider. E.B. White, Class of 1921, is all over town. His classic, “Charlotte’s Web,” is the pick for The Big Family Read March 1-April 1.
As part of the celebration, Cornell University Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections will display a replica of the original “Charlotte’s Web” manuscript and E.B. White’s papers and photos at the Tompkins County Public Library.
The exhibition runs between March 10 and April 14, and it will also include art and writing from local kids.
Also:
• New readers will get to know Charlotte, Wilbur and the rest of the gang: All second- and third-graders in Tompkins County will get a copy of the book at school, and, while supplies last, free copies will be available at the public library starting March 1.
• The State Theatre presents a production of “Charlotte’s Web” Sunday, April 1.
• Cornell University Press publishes “In the Words of E. B. White: Quotations from America’s Most Companionable of Writers” edited by his granddaughter Martha White and described in a new video.
And keep an eye out for a large spider web on the tennis court fence at Ithaca High School. A message will magically appear on the web one morning, as if Charlotte herself had worked through the night.
– Gwen Glazer and Susan Lang