Parents have a responsibility to participate in child development. This makes work easier for teachers in their quest for success. It is also quite important to note that teachers play an important role in child development. To achieve this, they work all round to provide adequate resources for improvement of literacy levels.
Moreover, they research on better methods of imparting literacy skills on them. In this regard, teachers have the responsibility of determining right materials for learning. They therefore take their time to cross check valuable materials for students. This paper will explore whether Charlotte’s Web is good for children’s literature needs (Winch & Poston, 1993, p. 21).
The book talks of a sow that begets piglets. However, one of them is found to be a runt and the owner, John Arable decides to kill it. However, his daughter Fern aged eight begs for its life. Eventually Arable gives her the pig and she names it Wilbur. Later on, when it is full grown, Wilbur is sold to her uncle Homer Zuckerman (Tunnell & Jacobs, 2008, p. 15). Fern kept visiting Wilbur until she was too old and frail.
However, Wilbur found a new friend in Charlotte, a grey spider. An old sheep in Zuckerman’s burn tells Wilbur that he will be slaughtered for Christmas. This event causes Charlotte to extol him in her web. This together with help from another rat known as Templeton helps Wilbur to escape death and instead become a winner of prize together with Charlotte (White & DiCamilo, 2004, p. 26).
This paper is very valuable to children. This is mainly because it focuses on important values of life as well as challenge young minds into engaging in critical thinking. This is very important in improving their cognitive development as well as oral language. Moreover, it improves their reading skills. Literature covers a wide area of child development; it involves skills in analyzing symbolisms, poems, characters, styles and themes, among others.
The book therefore provides good values for children development (Brace, Brockhoff, Sparkes & Tuckey, 2006b, p.15). For instance, it revels on the significance of friendship as can be witnessed between Wilbur and Fern as well as between Wilbur and Charlotte. Furthermore, it confirms that friends are very important in life and help students to commit to their friendships (Brace, Brockhoff, Sparkes & Tuckey, 2006a, p.10).
Characters are also important in this book, for instance, Charlotte is found to be kind and selfless. This applies to Fern too. Moreover, it exposes children to vocabularies, consumerisms, and real world situations. These are important in helping them to develop critical thinking (Saxby, 1997, p. 26-32).
Books are very instrumental in developing children’s literacy skills. Charlotte’s web provides children with ability to apply acquired skill in real life situations. These include cementing friendships, helping others, empathizing and showing mercy. It is also important in providing literacy skills to children as well as exposing them to consumerisms such as car models, among others (Jennings, 2003, p. 25).
Reference List
Brace, J., Brockhoff, V., Sparkes, N., & Tuckey, J. (2006a). First Steps: Speaking and listening map of development (2nd ed.). Port Melbourne, Vic: Rigby.
Brace, J., Brockhoff, V., Sparkes, N., & Tuckey, J. (2006b). First Steps: Speaking and listening resource book (2nd ed.). Port Melbourne, Vic: Rigby.
Jennings, P. (2003). The Reading Bug…and how to help your child to catch it. Australia: Penguin Books.
Saxby, M. (1997). Books in the life of a child. South Melbourne: Macmillan. Pp. 26 – 32.
Tunnell, M., & Jacobs, J. (2008).Children’s Literature, Briefly. New Jersey, Ohio: Pearson.
White, E.B., & DiCamilo, K. (2004). Charlotte’s Web (Trophy Newbery). New York: HarperCollins.
Winch, G., & Poston, B. (1993). Now for a Story. Australia: Phoenix Education.