Charlotte's (Big) Web

So yesterday I thought about my penchant for letting my kid watch videos when we were home alone, and decided maybe a book might be a good alternative. So I stopped at a used bookstore on the way to get him something, and found myself a copy of "Charlotte's Web". I've been slowly building up his collection of books I liked as a kid, and didn't have this one yet, so it seemed a win-win situation.

I put it on his carseat, and told him on the way to the car that I had bought something he might like. He picked it up when he got in, read the title and looked at the cover image, and tossed it aside.

"I don't think I like it," he said.

We had a short discussion about how he can't know what the book is about and therefore can't like it and that went no where, and then I said:

"It's about a SPIDER!"

"Who TALKS!!"

He pondered that for a moment.

"What kind of spider is she, mom?" he finally asked.

I was stumped. A plain grey spider, as far as I recall, but ... no idea what kind. "I don't know!" I replied.

He paused a little again. And then he brightened. "I bet she's a TARANTULA!!" he said, obviously reconsidering this book with this new idea.

I laughed. I know it's stereotypical, but it made me chuckle to think that little boys can apparently only get excited about Charlotte's Web if it involves something BIG and SCARY.

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But I should note, in all fairness, that apparently that was all he needed to get interested in the book, because he was keen to start reading it when we got home and we read the first seven chapters over the course of the evening, and bedtime. He was definitely interested. And not at all disappointed that Charlotte didn't turn out to be a tarantula. At least, not so he related to me.