Fern is a young farm girl who rescues the runt, Wilbur. Wilbur the pig is saved from certain death and Fern visits him every day at her Uncle Homer's farm. But it's Wilbur's friendship with Charlotte the spider that ultimately saves him from the "smoke house." Charlotte's talent for weaving praiseworthy words about Wilbur into her web turns the Zuckerman farm into a tourist attraction.

In these pages, some of today's most wonderful culture-makers-writers, artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and philosophers-reflect on the joys of reading, how books broaden and deepen human experience, and the ways in which the written word has formed their own character. On the page facing each letter, an illustration by a celebrated illustrator or graphic artist presents that artist's visual response. Among the diverse contributions are letters...