[4](p 254) White's editor at Harper, who had heard about the Stuart stories from Katherine, asked to see them, and by March 1939 was intent on publishing them.
[4](p 255) A white mouse looking boy named Stuart is born to an ordinary family in New York City.
On a cold winter's day, the family discovers a yellow canary named Margalo half-frozen on their doorstep.
The bird repays his kindness by saving Stuart when he is trapped in a garbage barge and shipped out to sea for disposal.
In the spring, when she is set free from the house, she continues to visit Stuart, infuriating Snowbell, who now finds himself with two small animals he is not allowed to eat.
The dentist's patient, Edward Clydesdale, suggests that Margalo may have flown to Connecticut, and Dr. Carey loans Stuart his miniature car for the long journey.
Stuart purchases a miniature souvenir canoe, prepping it to make it comfortable and waterproof, and invites Harriet out on a boating date.
"[5](p 59) Anne Carroll Moore, who had initially encouraged White to write the book, was critical of it when she read a proof of it.
[4](pp 263–264) She wrote letters to White, his wife Katharine, and Harper's children's editor Ursula Nordstrom, advising that the book not be published.
[8] Actress Julie Harris narrated an unabridged adaptation on LP in two volumes for Pathways of Sound (POS 1036 and 1037).
Margalo is absent, with the plot instead focusing on Stuart's search for his real parents, later revealed to have died years ago, and Snowbell's attempt to get rid of him.
None of the film adaptations include the subplot of Stuart being a one-time substitute teacher in a schoolhouse, meeting Dr. Paul Carey, or encountering a girl his size named Harriet.
[9] "The World of Stuart Little", a 1966 episode of NBC's Children's Theater, narrated by Johnny Carson,[10] won a Peabody Award and was nominated for an Emmy.