Some Writer: The Story of E.B. White, by Melissa Sweet (Houghton Mifflin, 2016, 176 pp., ages 8–12) This chapter book for older readers chronicles the entire life of Elwyn Brooks White (a.k.a. “En” and “Andy”). Author-illustrator Sweet gives special attention, of course, to the masterpieces for which White is famous: Stuart Little, The Trumpet of the Swan, The Elements of Style, and the unforgettable Charlotte’s Web.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, Melissa Sweet is one of my favorite illustrators. Here her multimedia collages augment the text with ephemera, photos, drawings, paintings, speech bubbles, and informative captions. The vintage style and typewritten inserts perfectly suit the early- to mid-twentieth-century time frame spanned by White’s life.
Extensive back matter provides a wealth of fascinating facts in the form of an afterword from White’s granddaughter, Martha White, a bibliography, endnotes, comments on the art, a detailed timeline, an index (thank you, Melissa—every book should have one), and a letter from White to a class of sixth graders. As a memorial to a master of the craft, Sweet’s multidimensional work measures up to its subject matter.
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