View source for Stuart Little

{{short description|1945 children's novel by E.B. White}}
{{Other uses}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox book| <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> 
| name         = Stuart Little
| title_orig   =
| translator   =
| image        = StuartLittle.jpg
| caption      = First edition
| author       = [[E. B. White]]
| illustrator  = [[Garth Williams]]
| cover_artist = Garth Williams
| country      = United States
| language     = English
| series       =
| genre        = [[Children's Literature|Children's novel]]
| publisher    = [[Harper & Brothers]]
| release_date = 1945
| english_release_date =
| media_type   = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] & [[Paperback]])
| pages        = 128
| preceded_by  =
| followed_by  =
}}
'''''Stuart Little''''' is a 1945 American [[Children's literature|children's novel]] by [[E. B. White]].<ref name=Hennigan-2001-11-01/> It was White's first children's book, and became recognized as a classic in children's literature. ''Stuart Little'' was illustrated by the artist [[Garth Williams]], also his first work for children.

The book is a realistic yet fantastical story about a boy named Stuart Little. According to the first chapter, he looked very much like a mouse in every way.

==Background==
[[Michael Sims]], author of ''The Story of Charlotte's Web,'' wrote that Stuart "arrived in [White's] mind in a direct shipment from the subconscious."<ref name=Sims-2011/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 145}} In a letter White wrote in response to inquiries from readers, he described how he came to conceive of ''Stuart Little:'' "Many years ago, I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a rat. That's how the story of ''Stuart Little'' got started".<ref name=White-2010-03-24/> White had that dream in the spring of 1926, while sleeping on a train on his way back to New York from a visit to the [[Shenandoah Valley]].<ref name=Sims-2011/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 145}} 

White typed up a few stories about Stuart, which he told to his 18&nbsp;nieces and nephews when they asked him to tell them a story.
In 1935, White's wife [[Katharine Sergeant Angell White|Katharine]] showed these stories to [[Clarence Day]], then a regular contributor to ''[[The New Yorker]]''. Day liked the stories and encouraged White not to neglect them, but neither [[Oxford University Press]] nor [[Viking Press]] was interested in the stories,<ref name=Elledge-1986/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 254}} and White did not immediately develop them further.<ref name=Sims-2011/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 146}}

In the fall of 1938, as his wife wrote her annual collection of children's book reviews for ''[[The New Yorker]]'', White wrote a few paragraphs in his "One Man's Meat" column in ''[[Harper's Magazine]]'' about writing children's books.<ref name=Elledge-1986/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 254}} [[Anne Carroll Moore]], the head children's librarian at the [[New York Public Library]], read this column and responded by encouraging him to write a children's book that would "make the library lions roar".<ref name=Elledge-1986/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 254}}

White's editor at [[Harper (publisher)|Harper]], who had heard about the Stuart stories from Katherine, asked to see them, and by March&nbsp;1939 was intent on publishing them. Around that time, White wrote to [[James Thurber]] that he was "about half done" with the book; however, he did not finish it until the winter of 1944–1945.<ref name=Elledge-1986/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 255}}

==Plot==
A white mouse looking boy named Stuart is born to an ordinary family in New York City. He is normal in every way except that he is only just over {{Convert|2|in|cm|0|spell=in}} tall and looks exactly like a mouse, despite being a human child. At first, the family is concerned with how Stuart will survive in a human-sized world, but by the age of seven, he speaks, thinks, and behaves on the level of a human of sixteen and shows surprising ingenuity in adapting, performing such helpful family tasks as fishing his mother's wedding ring from a sink drain. The family's white Persian cat, Snowbell, dislikes Stuart because while he feels a natural instinct to chase him, he is aware that Stuart is a human family member and is thus off-limits.

On a cold winter's day, the family discovers a yellow canary named Margalo half-frozen on their doorstep. Margalo is taken in and spends the winter in the family home, where she befriends Stuart; Stuart in turn protects her from Snowbell. The bird repays his kindness by saving Stuart when he is trapped in a garbage barge and shipped out to sea for disposal. In the spring, when she is set free from the house, she continues to visit Stuart, much to Snowbell's annoyance, who now finds himself with two small animals he is not allowed to eat.

Snowbell makes a deal with the Angora cat to eat Margalo to get rid of one of his temptations (reasoning that it's only wrong if he eats her). Margalo is warned and flees in the middle of the night. Stuart is heartbroken but becomes determined to find her. He first goes to the local dentist, Dr. Carey. The dentist's patient, Edward Clydesdale, suggests that Margalo may have flown to Connecticut, and Dr. Carey loans Stuart his miniature car for the long journey.

Stuart travels from adventure to adventure and finds himself in the town of Ames Crossing, where he takes work as a substitute teacher. There he learns that living in Ames Crossing is a fifteen-year-old girl named Harriet Ames who is the same size as Stuart but looks like a human being. Stuart purchases a miniature souvenir canoe, prepping it to make it comfortable and waterproof, and invites Harriet out on a boating date. However, when the two arrive for the date, the canoe has been discovered and played with by local children, who have ruined it. Harriet tries to be polite but is put off by Stuart's sulking over his broken boat. Stuart decides to leave Ames Crossing and continue on his quest to find Margalo. He sets off once more in his car, continuing on his mission of exploring the world and finding his friend.

==Reception==
Lucien Agosta, in his overview of the critical reception of the book, notes that "Critical reactions to ''Stuart Little'' have varied from disapprobation to unqualified admiration since the book was published in 1945, though generally it has been well received."<ref name=Agosta-1995/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 59}} Anne Carroll Moore, who had initially encouraged White to write the book, was critical of it when she read a proof of it.<ref name=Elledge-1986/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 263–264}} She wrote letters to White, his wife Katharine, and ''Harper's'' children's editor [[Ursula Nordstrom]], advising that the book not be published.<ref name=Elledge-1986/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 263–264}}

A 1945 book reviewer wrote, "Mr.&nbsp;White has a tendency to write amusing scenes instead of telling a story. To say that ''Stuart Little'' is one of the best children’s books published this year is very modest praise for a writer of his talent."<ref name=Cowley-1945-10-28/>
The book has become a children's classic, and is widely read by children and used by teachers.<ref name=Kujawa-Wiseman-2004/>
White was awarded the [[Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal]] in 1970 for ''Stuart Little'' and ''Charlotte's Web''.<ref name=HarpCol-about-White/>

==Adaptations==
===Audio===
Actress [[Julie Harris (actress)|Julie Harris]] narrated an unabridged adaptation on [[LP record|LP]] in two volumes for Pathways of Sound (POS&nbsp;1036 and 1037). The complete recording was later released on audio cassette by [[Bantam Books|Bantam Audio]] and on [[Compact disc|CD]] by [[Random House|Listening Library]].

===Films===
{{main article|Stuart Little (franchise)#Films}}

The book was very loosely adapted into a [[1999 in film|1999]] [[Stuart Little (film)|film of the same name]], which combines live-action with [[computer animation]]. In the film, Stuart is an anthropomorphic mouse instead of a mouse-like boy, he is adopted instead of being born into the Little family. Margalo is absent, with the plot instead focusing on Stuart's search for his real parents, later revealed to have died years ago, and Snowbell's attempt to get rid of him. The 2002 sequel ''[[Stuart Little 2]]'' features Margalo and more closely follows the plot of the book, albeit with the inclusion of an evil falcon who holds Margalo captive. A third film, ''[[Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild]]'' was released [[direct-to-video]] in 2006. This film is entirely computer-animated, with its plot not derived from the book. None of the film adaptations include the subplot of Stuart being a one-time substitute teacher in a schoolhouse, meeting Dr. Paul Carey, or encountering a girl his size named Harriet.

All three films feature [[Hugh Laurie]] as Mr.&nbsp;Little, [[Geena Davis]] as Mrs.&nbsp;Little, and [[Michael J. Fox]] as the voice of Stuart Little.

In 2015, it was announced that a remake of ''Stuart Little'' is in the works at [[Sony Pictures Entertainment]] and [[Red Wagon Entertainment]]. The movie will remain hybrid [[Live-action animated film|live-action / computer animation]]. [[Douglas Wick]], the producer of the original films, will produce the remake.<ref name=CinemaBlend-2015-08-02/>

In [[Blue Moon (2025 film)]], [[Lorenz Hart]] and [[E. B. White]] have an extended interaction at Sardi's bar. White, who is working alone on his writing, is recognized by Hart, to whom he reveals he's writing a first novel, for children. Later, Hart insists on telling White the story of a recurrent mouse in his 19th floor apartment who keeps coming back after Hart takes him daily to Central Park and releases him. White is taken enough with the story that he asks Hart if he had named the mouse. Hart reflects and comes up with Stuart. White, taking notes, asks 'Is that with a 'u' or a 'w'?" and Hart says "u." Et voilà, if that was comparably true to life with the bulk of the film's narrative about Hart, it would seem the famed but moribund lyricist was the source of the name "Stuart" for White's title character.

===Television===
"The World of Stuart Little", a 1966 episode of [[NBC]]'s ''[[NBC Children's Theatre|Children's Theater]]'', narrated by [[Johnny Carson]],<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/stuartlittle | title=Stuart Little | year=1968 }}</ref> won a [[Peabody Award]] and was nominated for an [[Emmy]]. An animated television series, ''[[Stuart Little (TV series)|Stuart Little: The Animated Series]]'' (based on the film adaptations) was produced for [[HBO|HBO Family]] and aired for 13&nbsp;episodes in 2003.

===Video games===
Four video games based on the [[Stuart Little (franchise)|film adaptations]] have been produced. ''Stuart Little: Big City Adventures'', released for Microsoft Windows in 1999, is based on the [[Stuart Little (film)|1999 film]]. ''[[Stuart Little: The Journey Home]]'', which was released only for the [[Game Boy Color]] in 2001, is also based on the 1999 film. A game based on ''[[Stuart Little 2]]'' was released for the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]], [[Game Boy Advance]] and [[Microsoft Windows]] in 2002. A fourth game, entitled ''Stuart Little 3: Big Photo Adventure'', was released exclusively for the [[PlayStation 2]] in 2005.

==See also==
* [[Conservatory Water]], the boating pond on which Stuart Little sails
* [[Stuart, Florida]], the town which served as the inspiration for Stuart's name

==References==
{{reflist|25em|refs=

<ref name=Agosta-1995>
{{cite book
 |last=Agosta |first=Lucien
 |year=1995
 |title=E.B. White: The children's books
 |place=New York, NY
 |publisher=Twayne Publishers
 |page=59
}}
</ref>

<ref name=CinemaBlend-2015-08-02>
{{cite news
 |title=''Stuart Little'' is getting a remake
 |date=2 August 2015
 |website=Cinema Blend
 |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Stuart-Little-Getting-Remake-74847.html
 |access-date=7 June 2018
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Cowley-1945-10-28>
{{cite news
 |last=Cowley |first=Malcolm |author-link=Malcolm Cowley
 |date=28 October 1945
 |title=Stuart Little: Or New York through the eyes of a rat
 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/lifetimes/white-little.html
 |access-date=30 March 2014
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Elledge-1986>
{{cite book
 |last=Elledge |first=Scott
 |year=1986
 |title=E.B. White: A biography
 |place=New York, NY
 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]
 |isbn=0-393-30305-5
 |url=https://archive.org/details/ebwhitebiography00elle
 |url-access=registration
 |pages=254–255, 263–264
}}
</ref>

<ref name=HarpCol-about-White>
{{cite web
 |title=About E.B. White
 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]
 |url=http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrens/kids/gamesandcontests/features/charlottesweb/about.aspx
 |access-date=30 March 2014
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Hennigan-2001-11-01>
{{cite web
 |first=Adrian |last=Hennigan
 |date=1 November 2001
 |title=Kids' Stuff
 |publisher=BBC
 |language=en
 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/11/01/kids_stuff_article.shtml
 |access-date=3 September 2016
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Kujawa-Wiseman-2004>
{{cite book
 |first1=Lorraine |last1=Kujawa
 |first2=Virginia |last2=Wiseman
 |year=2004
 |title=A Guide for Using ''Stuart Little'' in the Classroom
 |publisher=Teacher Created Resources
 |isbn=978-1-57690-628-6
}}
</ref>

<ref name=Sims-2011>
{{cite book
 |last=Sims |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Sims
 |year=2011
 |title=The Story of Charlotte's Web
 |place=New York, NY
 |publisher=Walker Publishing Company
 |isbn=978-0-8027-7754-6
 |pages=145–146
}}
</ref>

<ref name=White-2010-03-24>
{{cite web
 |first=E.B. |last=White  |author-link=E. B. White 
 |title=Author essay by E.B. White from HarperCollins Publishers
 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]
 |date=2010-03-24
 |url=http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?authorID=10499&displayType=essay
 |access-date=2012-07-14
}}
</ref>

}} <!-- end "refs=" -->

==External links==
* {{cite web
 |title=''Stuart Little'' first edition dustjacket
 |website=[[NYPL Digital Gallery]]
 |publisher=[[New York Public Library]]
|url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-e011-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
}}

{{Stuart Little}}
[[Category:1945 American novels]]
[[Category:1945 children's books]]
[[Category:American children's novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Children's books set in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Children's novels about mice and rats]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into films]]
[[Category:Children's books adapted into films]]
[[Category:American novels adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Children's books adapted into television shows]]
[[Category:Novels adapted into video games]]
[[Category:Stuart Little (franchise)]]
[[Category:Works by E. B. White]]
[[Category:Harper & Brothers books]]