What's Elizabeth Reading? ...Terry Pratchett

First off, I would like you all to know that I was not attempting to disparage E.B. White in any way by using Stuart Little in a negative context.  I have not read Stuart Little.  However, I have read Elements of Style and have the utmost respect for White.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  It was like Tom Sawyer meets folk tales while folk tales is having a philosophical discussion with Jiminy Cricket over lunch, though I'm sure that description leaves out a whole host of people whom Pratchett invited to have lunch with them, too.  The talking animals were weird for the first little bit, but then I got used to them and the story moved along swimmingly.  At some points, it had me laughing out loud.

If Pratchett sat down with me and asked me what I would change about the book, I think the only thing I would tell him would be to hide the philosophy a little better.  While the story held it up well, I guess I'm not a huge fan of didactic novels, or novels that openly ponder the big questions in life.  I know I can learn from everything I read, and I like to look for the lessons on my own.  I don't want someone to hand me a moral.  Then again, that's just me.  Maybe the moral thing fits the age group (pre-teen, by the way).  I'm not an expert.

This book was not at all similar to the Bell book I was reading at the same time.  I was switching back and forth - fifty pages here, fifty pages there - and found myself excited to pick up each in turn.  At the same time, I was disappointed to be putting this one down each time I swapped to the other.  It was an enjoyable read.  The writing was upbeat and fun, and it was an interesting twist on the Pied Piper that I never would have thought of.