E.B. White

E.B. White sat down with George Plimpton and Frank H. Crowther in 1969 to give an interview for The Paris Review. White discussed his childhood, his love of the countryside and New York City, his time at The New Yorker and his writing habits. As the author of children’s books such as “Charlotte’s Web” and Stuart Little,” White was asked about his approach to writing for children.

“Anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time,” he said. “You have to write up, not down. Children are demanding. They are the most attentive, curious, eager, observant, sensitive, quick, and generally congenial readers on earth. They accept, almost without question, anything you present them with, as long as it is presented honestly, fearlessly, and clearly. … Some writers for children deliberately avoid using words they think a child doesn’t know. This emasculates the prose and, I suspect, bores the reader.”

To learn more about E.B. White, read his profile on findingDulcinea.