** spoiler alert ** 
 I just finished reading this book to my four-year-old daughter for the first time. What a treat it was to share it with her and to see it through her eyes. I have so much fun watching the stories we read make an appearance in her play. I was surprised that she wasn't upset about Charlotte dying. She asked why she died, but took it fairly well in stride when I explained that she was old and that every living thing must die one day. She seemed more upset when Charlotte's children flew away and that Wilbur was sad about that.