I just heard most of this on NPR and can’t wait to seek out the book. It sounds wonderful. It also sounds like the kind of thing that inspires a twinge of writer envy, but that can’t be helped.
The NPR Science Friday segment has E. B. White reading a great passage from the book and wonderful discussion of the intersection of science and imagination.
The author mentioned he had set out to write a book about the natural world and several children’s books—Winnie-the-Pooh, Wind in the Willows—but E. B. White provided more than enough material. I wonder how often the best children’s books have an intimate connection to the natural world; even The Hobbit and A Wrinkle in Time seem to fall in that category. Makes me want to go raid the bookshelves!
p.s. I cannot even write a tiny paraphrase of that lovely line from Charlotte’s Web without tearing up a little.
Red Sea School 
Shaun, have you read E.B. White’s essays? During the college prep years, our teen homeschooler read a lot of essays, including White’s. I don’t know how college applicants can be expected to write effective essays, if they have not spent some time reading well-written essays. So if your children are thinking of college, I highly recommend White’s essays when they get to that point. Enjoyable reading.
I enjoyed the NPR story and had missed it.
I haven’t read them — I really need to because I do love the essay form. Kids focus so much on novels and plays and poetry and read precious few great essays — it’s true, they really need more models. That could be a fun reading list to put together!