Human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders.
E.B. White
?was an essayist, author, and literary stylist who wrote for ¡°The New Yorker¡± and ¡ª most famously ¡ª wrote?, including the modern classics ¡°Stuart Little¡± (1945) and ¡°Charlotte¡¯s Web¡± (1952). The latter, which tells the story of a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a spider named Charlotte, is regarded as one of the greatest children¡¯s books of all time. Its timeless themes of friendship, the pains of growing up, and the unavoidable reality of death continue to strike a chord with readers young and old. The story is also imbued with the power of wonder. When Wilbur discovers farmer Homer Zuckerman¡¯s plan to slaughter him, Charlotte begins to weave messages into her web. These seemingly miraculous missives attract human spectators from miles around, prompting a clergyman to muse that ¡°human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders.¡± And it is these very wonders, created by Charlotte out of love for her friend, that ultimately spare Wilbur¡¯s life.?