*snort* i'm reading a 1952 review of charlotte's web in which the reviewer (who disliked the book) wrote:

"fern, the real centre of the book, is never developed. the animals never talk. they speculate. as to charlotte, her magic and mystery require a different technique to create that lasting interest in spiders which controls the childish impulse to do away with them.

HA! HA! HA!