Classical and Contemporary Childrens Books for Example Charlottes Web and Harry Potter - Essay Example

? ical and Contemporary books ical and Contemporary Children’s Books ical books are those books which were written for children almost 60 to 70 years ago but are read and very much enjoyed by children even today. Contemporary books are those children’s books which are written in the last 60 to 70 years and may or may not be read today. Most of them are written in the modern writing style of today and so, are easily understood by many readers. The two books chosen for this report are Charlotte’s Web as a classical book and Harry Potter as a contemporary book for children. Charlotte’s web The classical book chosen is “Charlotte's Web” by the acclaimed American author E. B. White. Aside from being an award-wining book it is also a classical children’s novel full of adventure, drama, love, friendship and sacrifice   about a pig named Wilbur, whose is scheduled to be slaughtered by his master. He is saved from his terrible fate by a spider named charlotte. In the start of this amazing tale, a farm belonging to John Arable bears a litter of piglets, of which Wilbur is a part. But later Mr. Arable finds out that Wilbur is a runt, so he decides to kill the pig and make him a Christmas dinner.  But Mr. Arable’s his eight year old daughter Fern, begs him not to do so. So, Fern gets the pig as a present. In the book, we see that Wilbur is enthusiastic and zealous and hyperactive. But even when he is Fern’s pet, he only gets to live with Fern for a few weeks and is then sold to her uncle, Homer Zuckerman. Fern visits Wilbur as much as she can, but when she gets older the stops visiting him frequently. Wilbur gets very lonely. So much so, that he starts hearing voices which tell him that somebody wants to be his friend. The voice eventually turns out to belong to a large grey spider named Charlotte. Wilbur finds out that there is a whole community of animals living under the cellar of Mr. Zuckerman’s barn. Soon, Wilbur also becomes a part of it. After a while, when Wilbur finds out that Mr. Zuckerman would kill Wilbur and eat him for Christmas dinner, he turns to Charlotte for help. By that time Charlotte is a very dear friend of Wilbur and she promises to help him out. After a lot of pondering and thinking, Charlotte comes up with the idea of writing words by spinning her web and praising Wilbur in front of the farmer. She wrote words like “terrific”, “some pig," and “humble”. She argued that if the farmer knew that Wilbur was pretty famous in the barn then he wouldn’t kill Wilbur. Eventually, the farmer not only decides not to kill Wilbur, but also plans to take Wilbur and the whole group of farm animals to the country fair. At the fair, Wilbur and Charlotte win a prize. Thereafter, Charlotte dies as she had reached the end of her life. Wilbur does her a favor and brings home the eggs that Charlotte lays before dying. After the kid spiders grow up, most of them leave to live elsewhere. Only Joy, Aranea, and Nellie, remain behind because they become really good friends with Wilbur. The points that makes Charlotte’s Web such a classic and an ever-loved book for all children of all times to come are summarized below: An excerpt from the book tells us why charlotte befriends Wilbur and helps him. “You have been my friend…That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, and we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all the trapping and catching flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that." Here we see perfect example of selflessness and sacrifice and love which is pouring out from the spider’s words and are timeless for Wilbur. Charlotte is not only Wilbur’s friend but also likes to smother him and look after him like a mother, telling him bedtime stories so that he falls to sleep, and teaching him manners, and even cooks for him. She cheers him up as a friend when he is down and boosts his confidence so that he may learn to look after himself even without any help from her. In order to fulfill her promise, charlotte spends days and days on end thinking how she would save Wilbur from the clutches of the fierce farmer and stop him from killing Wilbur. The book tells us: "Day after day the spider waited, head-down, for an idea to come to her. …Charlotte was naturally patient". Harry Potter Harry Potter is series of seven novels and is a modern day classic. The book features the main characters Harry Potter and his two best friends, Ronald Weasly and Hermione Granger. As you read the book on, you are teleported to a world of magic and mystery. Take any Harry Potter novel off a shelf, and you're holding magic in your hands. Its writer, J.K.Rowling, has the tendency to grasp her reader's interest, and take it to the level that the readers wants to be a part of the exciting and adventurous world of Harry. The book is a jaw-dropping, page-turning, heart-thumping fantasy that tends to challenge your imagination. The book sports wizards, goblins, trolls, gnomes, giants, dragons, centaurs, unicorns, sphinx, giant spiders and squids, basilisks, vampires, werewolfs, wands, curses, jinxes, invisibility cloaks, mermaids and many more mythical concepts. It even has a name for the totally ordinary, non-magical humans: Muggles. Harry's parents are murdered by the greatest dark villain of all times, Lord Voldemort, whose name is still feared by most of the wizards, even after 11 years of his defeat. When Voldemort is told by some source, that James and Lilly’s son, Harry, will one day be the reason of his fall, he murders James and Lilly. But before dying, Lilly manages to bestow Harry with an ancient powerful magic, which proves fatal for Voldemort. When Voldemort tries to murder Harry, he himself is killed by the magic. After his parent's tragic death, the famous and prestigious Wizard, Dumbledore, places Harry at the doorstep of Lilly's sister, with a note to take care of Harry like her own son, till he grows to be eleven. She does the opposite. In their home, Harry is treated like he's a big burden and a disgrace to their family. So when he turns eleven, and learns that he is a wizard, and he will be joining a wizard school of witchcraft and wizardry, his mind opens to some limitless possibilities that he might be finally accepted by people for who he really was. When he joins the wizard world, he is intrigued and awed by the powerful and amazing magic all around him, and feels lucky to be a part of it. Finally here, he learns the truth about his parents. He figured that he is a celebrity in this world because he was the reason why the tyrannical Lord Voldemort, died. Here he finds true friends and love; a feature he was unaware of in the Muggles world. His friends help him solve every mystery that is going on in his head, and even in the wizard world. But as he goes on, he has to face challenges of life and death, along with his friends. In the first part, the evil wizard takes the help of another weaker wizard, to take possession of the Sorcerer’s stone, to attain an eternal life, so that he can return to power. Harry, with his friends help, once again defeats him. In the second part, Voldemort again tries to come back to life through a dairy he wrote when he was a kid. But Harry, once again, through his keen and breaking-every-rule-that-you-can attitude, fails all Voldemort plans. In the third part he meets his God-father, Sirius Black, who promises him that he won’t have to go back to his uncle and aunt's house again this summer. Harry is happy and excited to hear the news. But unfortunately again, his God-father has to go on a run for his life. In the fourth part of the series, one of Voldemort’s trustworthy followers gives Harry name in the Tri-wizard tournament, a wizard's life threatening game, which is very difficult to survive through. And besides Harry being the youngest competitor, he still manages to win it. But by the end of this part, Voldemort finally comes back to power by drinking Harry's blood. In the fifth book, as Voldemort has returned, things get very serious, as the wizard world is again in danger now. So Harry's friends and school professors make a secret society, “The order of the Phoenix”, to keep track of Voldemort’s dealings, and to think of ways to save the wizard community. Harry and his friends play a vital part in it all. But, tragically, his God-father dies in the process. Dumbledore dies in the sixth part, which comes as a blow to the wizard world, as he was the only wizard Voldemort was afraid of. In the last part Harry finally manages to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Comparison The classical book, Charlotte’s Web is an ever remaining book, enjoyed by children of all ages. It has not many numbers of abuses or jokes only for only a particular age of age, so it is read and learnt by people of all ages. Even though it is a fiction, it still involves animals and they are easily compared to a lot of people. So, many schools recommend children to read it in the early years. The contemporary children’s book Harry Potter is also a very amazing book, full of adventure that leaves one hanging for more. The plot is amazing and circling, thrilling its readers and the jokes are ever funny and hilarious. But even with such attributes, one sees that it is not a classic. Not many people would enjoy magic myth and wizardry. It is certainly not for all ages except the first two parts. The fighting, killing and the horror might be deemed as violent by many schools so is definitely not recommended for children of very small ages. Also the technology, and the gadgets used are only very mush understandable in this age. The further the years pass, the more bored people will be by it. A lot of people do not want to read it again. Although, some people are so intrigued, that they cannot put it down for even a second, but many people just don’t want to read it. They think that just because it has the word magic in it, it will be highly superficial and fictitious. All these barriers stop it from becoming a classic. Both the books are a great source of pass time and learning. The books teach amazing lessons of love, friendship, sacrifice, selflessness, pleasure, tenderness and compassion. In Charlotte’s Web, the spider Charlotte would go to any depths to care for and fulfill her promises to Wilbur. In Harry Potter, Harry understands the importance of his friends and they return the feeling. He is always invited to Ron’s place for Christmas. He is treated like a son by Ron’s parents. Everyone would lay their lives for Harry and Harry would never think twice before doing the same for his friends. Charlotte’s Web shows us a picture of a happy loving and joking family. Harry Potter shows it too, just more so, with everything intensified by the hero of the book. Harry Potter is good and kindhearted. And he is the one saving everyone else. Through the books we see that Harry learns from his friends how to be a better and independent person who can make all their decisions themselves. Just like Wilbur. The only difference that seems to be is the fact that, this book has a trifle more violence and a more grown-up plot. With real, and more evil nemeses, which wouldn’t only kill harry and be satisfied, but would kill all others who came in their way, the enemies are also pretty scary and not as easily defeated as they are in Charlotte’s Web. Conclusion Bothe the books are special and very interesting and loved in their own places. Both are same and different equally. Where Charlotte’s Web is loved and read by people of all ages and genders, Harry Potter is read by only a special people of a particular age group as it is full of magic and wizard. Where Harry Potter lovers are people who love the thrill and the horror that grips one’s heart and keeps them hanging, the Charlotte’s Web lovers do so because they love the cute and cuddly farm animals and the little troubles that they have to go through every day. Charlotte’s Web is a several times read and never grows old. Harry Potter is only a once or twice read as the adventure eventually grows old. Both the books are special in their own places and are classics in their own respects. References Memorable quotes for Charlotte's Web (1973); http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070016/quotes BOOK SUMMARY: Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White: Publisher: Barnes and Noble Inc: Number of pages: 184 (2010); http://www.edocere.org/book_summaries/charlottes_web.htm Memorable quotes for Charlotte's Web (2006); http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413895/quotes Read More