ABOUT THE BOOK
My name is Charlotte. I am a spider and my home is in a web up high in Mr. Zuckerman's barn. Please don't run away as some people do when they meet a spider. My web is tucked away right here between the scythe and the grindstone. Spiders are very helpful creatures, you know. Without us the world would be very buggy to say the least. Maybe you don't eat flies, but I do; That is why your kitchen isn't full of them.

I am helpful in other ways, too. I keep an eye on the horse in his stall, the sheep in the sheepfold and Wilbur, the pig in his pigpen. Templeton, the rat, would eat all of Wilbur's slops if I weren't watching. Slops are the leftovers from the Zuckerman's kitchen...things like popovers and hominy.

Wilbur didn't know, you see, that he was being fattened up for the butcher. He was so upset when he found out that I promised to save him. It was a hasty promise to be sure. How can a tiny spider save a pig? I will have to give the matter a great deal of thought.

A promise is a promise and I have never broken one yet!

Paul Thompson has had a pig farm in Florida for 41 years. It is the only pig farm in the United States located next to a golf course. Paul plays country music to his pigs. He says it reduces stress, settles the pigs down and allows them to gain weight.

The three-year-old golf club has filed a law suit to stop Paul from playing the music because it bothers the golfers.

Florida law protects the farmer's right to farm as long as the farming practices are considered reasonable.

Look at pictures of Paul's farm on the internet. www.pigfarmer.com

Have a debate! Should Paul be allowed to continue playing country music to his pigs or should the golfers be free of noise they find annoying?

FOR                                         AGAINST _________________________________________________________
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To market, to market to buy a fat pig
Home again, home again, jiggety jig.
To market, to market to buy a fat hog
Home again, home again, jiggety jog.
Here are things one can buy at the market that come from pigs.