I never read this as a kid, and found it at a book fair in a 3 for £1 deal, so thought I’d give it a go! Other than know it was about a girl, a pig and a spider, I had zero idea of the plot!
The opening is brutal, given it’s a children’s book – “Where’s Papa going with that axe?” it turns out, he’s off to kill the runt of a litter of pigs born last night. What a start! Well Fern (the girl on the front cover) begs him not to, and raises the pig, Wilbur, on a bottle. Other than this bit at the start, I’d argue Fern is made a bit too much of, the bulk of the story is about Wilbur, Charlotte the spider, and the other animals in the barn, while Fern just starts to take an interest in boys. I’m not sure she deserves to be on the front cover!
One thing I struggled with (and I’m aware this sounds stupid) is that while I was very happy to suspend my disbelief insofar as animals talking is fine, but when, a few times in the book, Wilbur did a backflip, occasionally with a half twist, that seemed a bit ridiculous to me. Yes, I heard myself, ridiculous double standards!
Towards the end of the book there is a very sad moment, *spoiler alert* where Charlotte sadly passes away. There’s a line that’s a proper punch in the stomach as the chapter closes – “No one was with her when she died.” But it’s a children’s book, so it still finishes on a positive and we all end happily.
ineke.co.uk 
Anything to add...?