Biography A Great _ Writer by Justine Fonteseee ee eee ee Ce, STRATEGIES & SKILLS AT A GLANCE Read to | comprehension ‘ a * Strategy: Summarize Find Out © ¢ Skill: Author's Purpose Who was E.B. "Vocabulary White? Why | * acceptance, excitement, proper, was he a great | single, talented, useful writer? 1 Support Words 1 ® allergic, college, express himself, a nnttlll hatch (eae ye re DiGts LLeconc VAoLos! le uaa * even, often ears xelatay oy Vocabulary Strategy eh cco rgtes Magee & Context Clues: Word Clues io ‘mre colecrion oF tr sees iat Q ine a ene Suet sonas CONTENT-AREA VOCABULARY Words related to author, E.B. White. {See glossary, page |5) jon for CHARLOTTE’S WEB by. B. Whine; issrenorsanh Willicms. Huston ph ened, . seeecuim ses wiemeRemredtyeeieoncr | CONTENT STANDARDS a aeurememear STUART LTTE ayy usar Social Studies Mechanar eel * Culture Word Count: 728** & Macmillan McGraw-Hill Published by Macmillan/MeGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., Two Penn Plaza, New York, New York l0I2I. Copyright © by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. All sales No part of this publication may be repro aoe eter eed in any form, by oe means, or aoe ina database or retrieval syster prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., feetotnis cae not reat i Poe eo aee ‘or transmission, or broadcast for distance ning. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 0-02-194207-1 2345678 9 BSF 10 09 08 07 06 **The total word count is based on words in the running text and headings only. Numerals and words in captions, labels, diagrams, charts, and sidebars are not included.See eee eee eee eee eee ee A Great Writer by Justine Fontes Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 E.B. White’s Family Chapter 2 Animals Everywhere Chapter 3 White Becomes a Writer Conclusion Glossary/Index Comprehension CheckIntroduction E.B. White was a great writer. He wrote books that made readers laugh and cry. White wrote about the things he loved. He thought about what it might feel like to be a mouse, a spider, or a swan. Then he wrote about it. The first book White wrote was called Stuart Little. It was about a mouse who sails a boat, drives a car, and looks for love. Charlotte's Web is the story of a pig and a spider who become friends. A silent swan learns to express himself in The Trumpet of the Swan. express himself: let others know his thoughts and feelings é¢ This is the finest thing I have ever done! 99 —Stuart Littleie py, = SRE S 81. NGCHAPTER 2 J, H.B. White’s = Family Elwyn Brooks White was born on July 11, 1899. He was the youngest child in his family. He had three sisters and two brothers. White’s brother, Stanley, taught him how to read before he even started going to school. @ White was the youngest child in his family.¢¢ I’m not tall enough to be noticed .. . yet I’m tall enough to want to go to Seventy-second Street. 99 —Stuart Little All the White children learned music. After dinner, the White children played music together. The White children also did their homework. White’s parents had been too poor to stay in school. But they wanted their children to get a good education. 6¢ Bother arithmetic! Let’s skip it. 99 —Stuart LittleThe Whites lived in Mount Vernon, New York. Today, Mount Vernon is a city. But when E.B. White lived there, it was a rural, or country, town. Wild animals lived in rural areas. White loved animals. He always had a dog and lots of other pets. He kept birds, bunnies, lizards, snakes, and mice as pets. When E.B. White was a boy, people traveled mostly by horse and carriage. They also traveled by train. Many families had horses. White loved to be with his family’s horses. © The Whites lived in a nice house. It looked like the one in this picture.CHAPTER = 2. Animals Every where a White loved to watch nature. z He watched birds hatch from their a eggs. He watched the sun rise in the sky. One day, White’s father brought home some chicken eggs. The eggs soon hatched. White was excited to see the first chick come out of its shell. " | hatch: when a baby animal comes out of an egg © White built a gym for a mouse. He trained the mouse to do tricks. ¢¢ I don’t know of anything in the entire world more wonderful to look at than a nest with eggs in it. 99 ao —The Trumpet of the SwanWhite loved nature. But nature was not always good for him. White became allergic to grass and flowers when he was six years old. His father thought it might help to live somewhere else. So the family went to Maine for the summers. allergic: made sick by ¢¢ ..summers are wonderful, aren’t they...? 99 —Stuart LittleWhite loved Maine. He loved one of the lakes there. It was called Great Pond. White would often wake up early to explore. He loved to see a single bird flying in the early morning sky. Pease a i cade 4 you fi ural wor A DETECTIVE] Pos 6¢ . . my canoe is like an old and i 7? trusted friend. SeteCHAPTER ‘3. White Becomes sk a Writer White started writing in a journal when he was eight years old. He wrote letters to his brothers. He wrote poems and stories. White often wrote about animals. White was very talented. His poem about a mouse won a prize in a magazine called Woman's Home Companion. When White was in college he was chosen to lead the school newspaper. He was the editor-in-chief. White also became friends with other writers. college: a school for students who have finished high school; university@ This is Cornell University. White studied here. In 1925, White sent a funny story to a new magazine called The New Yorker. Katharine Angell was an editor there. She read White’s story and laughed. She told her boss to hire White. White and Angell got married in 1929. Their only child, Joel, was born a year later. é¢ It was just a cheap notebook that was always by his bed. Every night he wrote about things he had done, things he had seen, and thoughts he had had. 99 —The Trumpet of the Swaneocuoeeeeeeseaeeeeoeeeeeeneeeeneees 12 each sold over 6 million copies during their first 30 years in print. All three books are still being sold all over the world. White worked at The New Yorker for many years. White liked the excitement of the city but he missed the country. White moved from New York City to a farm in Maine. He wanted to explore nature again. ¢¢ When the first light comes into the sky and the sparrows stir... I will show you my iece. 99 EASE TENSES —Charlotte’s WebWhite often told stories to his nieces and nephews. They liked his stories about a mouse who dressed in nice clothes. So White put these stories in a book called Stuart Little. The book found acceptance from a publisher. The publisher agreed to print the book. Readers loved Stuart Little. So White wrote Charlotte’s Web and The Trumpet of the Swan. These became classics, too. White also wrote a useful book for adults. It is about the proper way to write. language Clue: Stuart Little is capitalized because it is the D T C title of a book. Can you find two other book ETE TIVE titles on this page? © White first saw trumpeter swans on a trip to the western part of the United States.In 1978, E.B. White won the Pulitzer Prize for his work as a writer. White always enjoyed simple things. He liked to watch eggs hatch. He liked to watch the sunset. He even liked a blank, or empty, sheet of paper. He knew he could fill the paper with stories that people would enjoy! E.B. White’s Children’s Books 1945 STUART LITTLE 1952 CHARLOTTE’S WEB 1970 THE TRUMPET OF THE SWANGlossary classic books that people think are important and the best (page 13) editor-in-chief the person who decides what gets put in a newspaper or magazine (page 10) publisher a company that prints and sells books (page 13) Pulitzer Prize an award given every year to a great writer (page 14) Index Angell, Katherine, 11 Charlotte’s Web, 2-3, 13-14 Early Life, 4, 10 Maine, 8-9, 12 Pulitzer Prize, 14 Stuart Little, 2-3, 13, 14 Trumpet of the Swans, The, 2-3, 13, 14 White, Joel, 11 15Comprehension Check Summarize Complete the Author's Purpose Chart with the class. Then summarize the book. You may use the chart to help you organize your ideas. Clues Author’s Purpose Think and Compare 1. Reread page 13. Why did E.B. White write books for children? (Evaluate Author’s Purpose) 2. What is something interesting that you learned about E.B. White? Explain why you think it is interesting. (Apply) 3. Some authors write books that children like to read. Some do not. What are some qualities of a good children’s book? (Synthesize)Writing Activity Work with a partner. Find one of E.B. White’s books. Find two sentences that you like. Copy them onto a sheet of paper. Share them with your classmates. Are they funny or sad? Tell why you chose them. Nature Walk E.B. White loved nature. Plants and animals are all around you, even if you live in a city. Look for animals and plants in your neighborhood. Make a chart like the one below. In the chart, describe what you see. Share it with a partner. What do you see? Describe it!eople at Work E.B. White wrote great books for children. Who was E.B. White? Where did he get ideas for his stories? snoemillgg T= ere) welt. Cle rete 3.2 Week 5 le mae ee ISBN 0-02-194204-8 55701 a a Wsagel! ll Macmillan McGraw-Hill