Dear Readers,

I’m glad we’ve started reading Charlotte’s Web. Some of you have probably read it before, and some people might say it’s too easy for fourth graders to read.

But E.B. White is a master! We can learn so much from him about good writing. If we pay attention, we’ll see that White avoids all nonsense in his prose. If we read closely, we’ll notice that he knows exactly what he’s doing.

If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader. And you have to be an intense reader: someone who’s always looking for new ways of saying something we know is true.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck