Did You Know? Charlotte's Web

After yesterday's interview with Charlotte, I thought it would be a good idea to see what interesting facts I could dig up about Charlotte's Web and it's author, E.B. White. Let's see what I found out.

Did You Know...

• Publishers Weekly named Charlotte's Web the best selling children's book of all time?
• Charlotte's full name, Charlotte A. Cavatica, was based on the scientific name for a barn spider, Araneus cavaticus?
• Illustrator Garth Williams originally drew Charlotte with a ladies head, but E.B. White wanted her drawn as a regular spider?
• The book originally started in the barnyard, but White added the what became the opening scenes with Fern and her family?
• White's Maine farmhouse and barn were the inspiration for the book? His will stipulated that it remain off limits to the public to preserve the property.
• The E.B. stands for Elwyn Brooks?
• He wound up marrying the editor that hired him for The New Yorker magazine, Katharine Angell?
• He updated and edited The Elements of Style? Today, it's known as Strunk & White's Elements of Style, the most commonly used grammar and usage guide.
• White won an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his writing, including Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and Trumpet of the Swan?

Here's the trailer from the animated version of Charlotte's Web. I love Templeton. Paul Lynde was great: