Charlotte’s Web, by American writer
(E) B. White, is a classic children’s novel about a pig named Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider named Charlotte. It was listed by Publisher’s Weekly as the top-selling children’s paperback of all time in the year 2000. 

  When a little girl, Fern Arable, learns that her father intends to kill a baby piglet because it is the runt of the litter, she begs him to spare the piglet’s life. Mr. Arable finally relents and gives Fern the responsibility of raising the piglet, hoping this will show Fern “how much trouble a pig can be.”  

   Fern nurses the piglet, which she names Wilbur, for several weeks. Once Wilbur is old enough, Mr. Arable makes Fern sell Wilbur to her uncle. At Zuckerman’s farm, Wilbur becomes lonely for friendship but none of the farm animals will play with him. Eventually, Charlotte, a large gray spider whose web stretches above the door to Wilbur’s pigpen, extends the hand of friendship. Wilbur is at first horrified by the bloodthirsty nature of the spider, but eventually the two become dear friends. 

  By chance, Wilbur discovers that he will soon be killed for Christmas dinner. Charlotte promises she will devise a plan to save his life, and after several days an idea comes to her. Charlotte begins weaving praise of Wilbur into her web, including “Some Pig!” and “TERRIFIC,” attracting publicity among Zuckerman’s neighbors. Mr. Zuckerman becomes so preoccupied with the miracles of his famous pig he decides to enter Wilbur in a competition at the County Fair. With Charlotte’s assistance, Wilbur goes to the fair and wins Mr. Zuckerman top prize, ensuring that Wilbur will not go to slaughter. Charlotte, however, has reached the end of her natural lifespan, and after laying her eggs, she becomes too weak to go on. With help from a rat, Wilbur salvages Charlotte’s eggs and transports them back to Zuckerman’s barn. When Charlotte’s eggs eventually hatch the following spring, most of the baby spiders depart to build webs of their own elsewhere. Three of Charlotte’s daughters, however, stay behind at Zuckerman’s barn as friends to Wilbur.

        Nola Ochs was born in Kansas in 1911. Her life was not extraordinary by most measures. She grew and married, had children and grandchildren, taught in rural schools, and lived the quiet Midwest life. But she was different in one notable way: After her husband died in 1972, Nola began taking classes and eventually earned her associate degree at age 77.

       “I still wanted to go to school. It was fun to go to classes. And if I had an assignment to do in the evening, that occupied my time in a pleasant way,” she recalled. After some years went by, Nola again got the bug to learn.

       Learning takes time, and moving through courses must be done on your own time, at your own pace. When Nola had 30 hours of school left to complete, she moved 100 miles away from her farm, got an apartment and attended classes in person. She graduated with her granddaughter in 2007.

      Nola could have been finished then with her long life of learning. She was, after all, 95 years young. Nola decided to keep going. She lived in the student dorms and got her master’s degree in liberal studies with an emphasis on history three years later, at age 98.

       A hundred years yields a lot of wisdom. But it’s the process that can teach us all. Learn everything you can. Share your crops with the neighbors. And never, never give up on yourself. At 105, Nola finished her memoir.