TO THE POINT: A Story About E.B. White

A biography of White written for children just old enough to read Charlotte's Web should be welcome. Unfortunately--although this one outlines his life accurately enough--it is relentlessly pedestrian in style, totally lacking the wry humor, elegant simplicity, charm, and grace of its subject's prose. There are few character-revealing anecdotes here; even the controversies that might amuse young readers--like the outrage against a mouse born to humans, or White's second thoughts on Julie Harris' recording of Stuart Little--are omitted or given short shrift. Though this may be better than nothing, a biography by someone who had taken to heart the advice White gave in The Elements of Style would be less embarrassing to all concerned. The b&w illustrations are as stolid as the text.