I went out to the elevator and greeted him, and he said, “I’ve brought you a new manuscript.” I hadn’t known he was even close to finishing a second book and I was overwhelmed. One day in the early spring of 1952 I was sitting in my Harper office and the receptionist came in to tell me E. Some years later White delivered another manuscript to Nordstrom: Stuart Little was published in 1945 to widespread (if not universal) acclaim. And so it was with a certain relief that I read the manuscript and found that I adored it. Only another children’s book editor can know the emotions one has on hearing that a famous writer of adult books is going to send a book for children to the house, for talent in the former does not always carry over to the latter. White was already well known by then for his pieces in The New Yorker and other literary magazines, and Nordrstrom later recalled that White submitted the manuscript for Stuart Little. Ursula Nordstrom was chief editor of the children’s book division at Harper and Brothers when E.B. White wrote three children’s books: Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte’s Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970).
< Title page from ZSR Library’s copy of the 1952 first edition of Charlotte’s Web
White’s keen observations on farm life in Charlotte’s Web and other writings were informed by his firsthand experience of life in the barnyard. He married New Yorker editor Katherine Angell in 1929 and soon after bought a farm in Maine. White had a lifelong affinity for animals and love of the natural world.
He wrote poetry and novels for adults and was perhaps best known for his nonfiction essays. White’s Charlotte’s Web, one of the most beloved children’s books of the 20th century, was first published 60 years ago this month.Įlwyn Brooks White (1899-1985) had a long career as a contributor and an editorial staff member at The New Yorker.
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