My parents read this book aloud to me when I was in preschool, and I was fascinated by Stuart's adventures, which only became more interesting once I read it by myself. All of E.B. White's childrens books are fantastic (especially Trumpet of the Swan), and kids will only wish that the book was longer! Since it is a chapter book with few pictures, it's best read a little at a time with younger kids.
I thought this book was rather disappointing. The review here states that Stuart is valiant and polite and while those are nice characteristics to have, I think that it is overshadowed by his self-pity toward the end. The book kind of falls apart in the last chapters and barely seems to have any continuity. I was trying to justify it by looking for some higher allegorical meaning - but any conclusions that could be drawn seemed to be far too adult for any child of elementary school age to understand or appreciate.