Stuart Little is a children's book written and published by E.B. White in 1945. It was this first book of White’s as well as his second, Charlotte’s Web, that secured his reputation as one of the most beloved American writers of children’s literature.
White had a pet mouse as a child and was known for looking rather mousy himself, but the true origin of the character of Stuart Little was apparently a dream on a train ride when he was an adult: he “dreamed of a small character who had the features of a mouse, was nicely dressed, courageous, and questing.” His “mouse-child” was “the only fictional figure ever to have honored and disturbed [his] sleep.” He wrote a few pieces of what would be the finished work to share with his 18 nieces and nephews, but did not completely finish until late 1944.
The book was mostly well-received, though the powerful former head librarian of the New York Public Library despised it and campaigned (unsuccessfully) to prevent its inclusion in the collection. It is now considered a classic, especially after a 1999 film adaptation brought the character and its source material to a new generation of readers.
