Charlotte's Web

I actually finished the first of my 501 books, Charlotte's Web, awhile ago but am just now taking the time to write about it.  It was every bit as charming as I remember it.  The part that really stood out for me was young Fern and her love of the animals.  I had to smile at the part where she tucks young Wilbur into her doll carriage next to her baby doll.  As a young child I had two black cats, and I enjoyed treating these poor, unfortunate creatures as babies.  As a matter of fact, my doll stroller had some severe scratches inside from where I had tried to swaddle our male cat, Sam, and give him a ride.  Apparently cats are less cooperative than piglets.  I also enjoyed sewing clothes out of paper for my little female cat, Phoebe.  Sadly, my mother could find no photos of these, although I know they existed.  Phoebe was much more cooperative about being dressed up and photographed than Sam was about being wrapped up and pushed in a stroller.  When I was eleven, my parents gave me a Rottweiler-mix puppy as a belated birthday present.  I named him Dreamer, for his very active sleep life-- he ran, barked, grumbled, etc. when he slept.  Just like Wilbur, Dreamer had been raised on a bottle.  Unlike Wilbur, he grew to prefer orange juice to milk.  And just like Fern did with Wilbur, I took him everywhere.  I once heard said that a dog lover will always have a dog, but they will only have one dog who is THE dog.  Dreamer was THE dog for me, and I'm grateful for all 14 years I shared with him.

Me (at age 11) with Dreamer

(Please ignore the hair.  My mother was under the illusion that she could cut hair...And that bangs would be a good look for me)

Me (at 25) with Dreamer

(You can see by the bandana that I enjoyed dressing him up too)