“It is unnerving to be told one is bad for children.” E.B. White, little book

This weekend, Capitol Hill’s Little Theatre (608 19th Ave. E.) is hosting little book, a little play about author E.B. White and his first novel for children, Stuart Little.

Produced by the traveling for/word company, little book examines the writer’s process using the fiction, essays, letters, and memoirs of the characters: E.B. “Andy” White, played by Chris Roche; the author’s wife and editor, Katherine White, portrayed by for/word company joint artistic director Christina Ritter; and Anne Carroll Moore, the woman who is almost single-handedly responsible for any fond childhood memories one might have of libraries. Seattle-based actress Peach Pittenger takes on the role of the slightly loony and highly opinionated Ms. Moore.

little book is not a biography of E.B. White. Playwright and for/word company joint artistic director Jennifer Schlueter plays fast and loose with the time-space continuum in order to tell the story. The result of her artistic license is a charming, humorous–and occasionally slightly creepy–examination of “procrastination, disappointment, hypochondria, unrequited love, and blind hope.”

This is not your children’s Stuart Little. The laughs are for grown-ups (early in the play E.B. White declares “I would like to have a week without having an editorial bowel movement over Talk of the Town.”), and the plot relies heavily on dialogue, moving quickly, snap-snap-snap, from act to act. Nonetheless, the story will awaken fond memories for fans of the novel, even as it illuminates the torturous process by which Mr. White arrived at the first line of his beloved story.

little book runs through Sunday, July 17th at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.