[BOOK REVIEW] Shrek! by William Steig

Title:  Shrek!

Author:  William Steig

Genre:  Monsters / Manners / Fantasy / Romance

Year Published: 1990

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Farrar Straus Giroux

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 6+ (Some Mischievous Behavior and Some Language)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Shrek!” is another memorable classic book from the great mind of William Steig and it is about how Shrek, a repulsive ogre, tries to find the princess to marry after he leaves his parents’ home.  “Shrek!” is a great book for children who love reading books about monsters.

William Steig has done a great job at both illustrating and writing this modern day fairy tale that is full of attitude.  William Steig’s illustrations are truly beautiful and hilarious especially of the images of Shrek himself as he has a green and warty face, a purple shirt and yellow and green striped pants, which make him, look more hilarious than menacing.  I also love the images of the trees in this book as they look simplistic yet beautiful, giving this book a somewhat simplistic tone.  William Steig makes this story extremely hilarious and full of attitude as Shrek is a character who loves being repulsive and scaring off innocent bystanders, but at the same time, he gives a powerful message to the audience about loving yourself as Shrek loves his own repulsiveness, even if other people do not like his repulsiveness.  William Steig makes this book extremely unique as it was one of the few books to have a repulsive character as the main character of the story.

Parents should know that this book does contain the word jack--- and that might offend many parents who do not want their children learning such a word.  Even though jack--- is used to describe a donkey in this book, the way that the “a” word is being used now might confuse smaller children and might even entice them to say the word so often.  Also, another con of this book is that, in my opinion, it was not as memorable as the movie which is why I gave it a four star rating.  Shrek seem more repulsive in this book than he was in the movie and that aspect of his character sort of made him a less likable character in the book, while in the movie, Shrek was a more benevolent ogre who was upset at the way that people treated him and that made him a very likable character in the movie.  Also, I felt like the character development was not as strong in this book as it was in the movie and the audience might not feel any kind of bond towards the characters in this book.

“Shrek!” is a great book for children about the importance of being yourself no matter what other people think, but the movie might be a better choice about learning this message since the movie developed the characters much better than this book could.  I would recommend this book to children ages six and up due to the use of the word jack---.

* 1991 Zilveren Penseel

You might also like:

• Doctor DeSoto by William Steig

• Caleb and Kate by William Steig

• The Amazing Bone by William Steig

[BOOK REVIEW] Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

Title:  Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Author:  William Steig

Genre: Family / Drama / Magic / Animals

Year Published: 1969

Year Read:  2008

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Discussions about loss of a child)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” is one of William Steig’s earlier books and has proven to be the most emotional and heartwarming of all of his books. Also, this was William Steig’s first controversial book due to the image of the police being portrayed as pigs, even though I do not think that it is an issue because all the characters are animals, but it depends on how you view this issue. Anyway, William Steig’s dramatic storyline and illustrations has won this book a Caldecott Book Award and will surely be a treat to read.

William Steig has done an excellent job at beautifully detailing a young donkey’s attempts to change back to normal after a wish goes awry. Both children and adults will feel for Sylvester’s great sadness at not being able to tell his parents that he is still alive and his parents’ misery as they thought that their darling son was dead. William Steig’s illustrations are beautiful and detailed as he vividly draws the sad and happy emotions on Sylvester’s parents’ faces when they worried about their son, Sylvester. Also, the illustrations of the flowers and the trees and even the snow during the winter scene are memorizing as they provide a calm background the images.

***Small Rant:***

Alright, so everyone who has been browsing through various banned books knows that the reason why this book was banned was because of the image of the policemen being portrayed as pigs. First of all, I have an issue with this book being banned because of that reason.  I mean, this is a book about TALKING ANIMALS, so what is wrong with the police being portrayed as pigs in a book about talking animals?  Also, the main character is a DONKEY! So, that means that if the characters were switched and the main character was a pig and the policemen were donkeys, would that still be an issue?  There were a couple of banned books where I do not agree with the reasons of it being banned (although, I never agree with any book being banned), but this was one of those books where I think the reason for it being banned was COMPLETELY unjustified.

***Rant Ended***

Also, the scenes where Sylvester's parents worry about Sylvester's whereabouts might worry smaller children who might worry about whether or not Sylvester will ever transform back into himself again.  Parents should reassure their children about the importance of staying safe if they wonder out into an unknown area.

“Sylvester and the Magic Pebble” is William Steig’s milestone children’s book as it discusses the love that Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have for their child, Sylvester, when he turns up missing and how the spell of the magic pebble is broken when Mr. and Mrs. Duncan wished for their child’s return. This book will be a cult favorite for both children and adults and is suitable for children ages five and up, even though it discusses the loss of a child.

* 1970 Caldecott Medal

* 1970 National Book Award Finalist for Children's Books

* 1978 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

You might also like: 

• The Amazing Bone by William Steig

• Doctor DeSoto by William Steig

• Caleb and Kate by William Steig

 REASON FOR BEING BANNED: For having illustrations that portrayed police characters as pigs.

[BOOK REVIEW] Caleb and Kate by William Steig

Title:  Caleb and Kate

Author:  William Steig

Genre: Romance / Animals / Magic

Year Published: 1977

Year Read:  1993

Publisher: Square Fish

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 6+  (One Intense Scene Involving Burglary and Domestic Tensions)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Caleb and Kate” is one of William Steig’s most touching and intense books about how love can conquer any obstacle in life. The story of how the couple dealt with almost being separated from each other, due from a magic spell, is one of the most popular forms of fairy tales ever created.

“Caleb and Kate” is an extremely dramatic love story from the creative mind of William Steig. William Steig shows that even though Caleb and Kate fought with each other most of the time, their love for each other has mysteriously broke the spell over Caleb and the couple reunite with each other with more passion than before. William Steig has specialty with illustrating the forests in each of his stories with luscious colors. “Caleb and Kate” is no exception with the forests contrasting in color as the forests are light during the day and are dark during the night.

The two things that I find wrong with this book is that the story tends to be longer than any other children’s book I have read and that there are many words in the book that young children would not understand. The story tends to stretch out more than it needs to such as, the scene where Caleb is playing with the other dogs, when the focus of the story is actually in Caleb trying to tell his wife that he is her long lost husband that she is trying to find. Also, William Steig has been known to use advanced vocabulary in his books, even though they are aimed at children. The words that many young children would find hard to understand are “odious,” “cantankerous,” and “avidly.” Parents should take some time to explain the advanced vocabulary to their children so that the children would understand the book better.

“Caleb and Kate” explains about how love manages to bring two quarreling couples back together after Caleb has been transformed into a dog. Even though Caleb was threatened with the idea of spending the rest of his life as a dog, he still did not give up on the love that he shares with Kate and tries to be by her side at all times. This book is the perfect love story for young children and adults would also love this book as well for its theme about love conquering anything.

[BOOK REVIEW] Doctor DeSoto by William Steig

Title:  Doctor DeSoto

Author:  William Steig

Genre: Animal / Drama / Humor


Year Published: 1982


Year Read: 1993

Publisher:  Scholastic

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (One Violent Image)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“Doctor DeSoto” is a popular book written by the master children’s books, William Steig. This book is most notably known for winning the Newberry Honor Book award and has remained to be a favorite among the young readers for many generations.

Doctor DeSoto” has an extremely unique storyline about deception. The fox was trying to be friendly towards the DeSotos in the second half of the story, thinking that they would not suspect his malicious intentions. But, Doctor DeSoto comes up with a creative solution in outfoxing the fox and therefore, turns the tables on the fox. Doctor DeSoto’s trickery towards the fox is probably one of the greatest trickster moments in book history since in “Stephanie’s Ponytail” when Stephanie tricked her classmates into shaving their heads bald. William Steig’s illustrations are vividly detailed as he masterfully illustrates the expressions on the characters’ faces of pity and uncertainty from the fox as he is treated by Doctor DeSoto and how Steig illustrates the buildings in the cities by coloring the buildings mostly brown and red and having the interior of each building be filled with flowers, couches, and colorful wallpapers that create a homely atmosphere to the story.

Parents should know that there is a brief image of the fox’s tooth being pulled out by a lever machine and the tooth is somewhat bloody as drops of blood fall from the tooth. Young children who are frightened of the dentist may worry about this image so parents should try to either skip over this image or reassure their children that the fox is alright from this procedure, even though he states, “I’m bleeding!”

“Doctor DeSoto” is one of William Steig’s greatest classics since it contains a trickery scene by Doctor DeSoto that will remain a cult favorite for many years. Children about ages six or younger will simply adore this book for its cute characters and exciting storyline and the adults will love the fact that Doctor DeSoto has taken a great profession in dentistry and I am sure that this book will be a favorite for many years. Also, if you love “Doctor DeSoto,” check out the sequel “Doctor DeSoto Goes to Africa” that also features the wise doctor.

* 1983 National Book Award for Children's Books
* 1983 Newbery Honor

[BOOK REVIEW] The Amazing Bone by William Steig

Title:  The Amazing Bone

Author:  William Steig

Genre: Animal / Drama / Friendship


Year Published: 1976



Year Read: 1993

Publisher: Square Fish

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 6+ (Depictions of Child Kidnapping and an Attempted Robbery)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“The Amazing Bone” is another classic from William Steig and is also the most dramatic book due to the main character being put into peril in a number of cases. William Steig’s hand-drawn illustrations and his intense yet soothing storytelling makes this book an instant treat to enjoy.

“The Amazing Bone” sets the perfect storyline about the power of friendship and the dangers of the outside world to a child. William Steig dramatically tells how some strangers are dangerous to children by depicting a young pig that meets many dangerous strangers in the woods and nearly has died on both accounts. William Steig’s storytelling also brilliantly depicts of how important it is to walk home with somebody who will protect you, such as the bone coming along with Pearl and protecting her from all the dangerous strangers she has met. Another main aspect of this book is William Steig’s beautiful illustrations, as he illustrates the forest and the flowers with many vibrant colors that make the forest look beautiful and realistic.

Parents should know that there are many intense scenes in this book, such as Pearl being harassed by three robbers who threaten to kill her if she did not hand over her purse and the fox kidnapping Pearl and taking her to his hideaway so that he could cook Pearl into a main course dinner. Since many children today are being harassed and kidnapped by unsuspecting strangers, this book may be too much for children to handle and parents should try to explain to their children that it is always good to travel with someone if one does not know the place very well, so that the person will try their best to protect the child from any danger.

“The Amazing Bone” is a wonderful experience for children to see how it is dangerous to walk in an unsuspecting place alone and how friendship is strong enough to conquer the most dangerous criminals. This book is probably one of William Steig’s most notable books due to it winning a Caldecott Honor Medal and this book does deserve that medal. Even though this book is a treat for many children, parents may want to talk to their children about strangers before reading them this book.

* 1977 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Nominee for Picture Book
* 1977 Caldecott Honor

[BOOK REVIEW] Amos and Boris by William Steig

Title:  Amos and Boris

Author:  William Steig


Genre: Animal / Adventure / Friendship



Year Published: 1971



Year Read: 2010

Publisher:  Perfection Learning

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 5+  (Near Death Experience)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

I have been reading William Steig’s works ever since I was little and now I have just recently read his most heartwarming book yet, “Amos and Boris.” “Amos and Boris” is a children’s book by William Steig which is about a small and adventurous mouse named Amos who finds a friend in a huge whale named Boris when Amos was lost at sea and Boris saves his life. “Amos and Boris” is truly a beautiful children’s book that will be an instant favorite among children for many years!

Oh my goodness! I have to catch my breath here! When I mentioned that this book is simply breathtaking, it really took my breath away! William Steig has certainly done an excellent job at both writing and illustrating this story about the importance of true friendship. What I loved the most about William Steig’s writing is his ability to use extremely advanced words but makes those advanced words flow beautifully with the story and also making the story sound so exotic. I also loved the theme of friendship in this book as Boris and Amos are truly inseparable friends as they would do anything to help each other out in their troubling situations and I loved how Amos and Boris kept on telling each other that they will never will forget each other, no matter how different they are from each other. William Steig’s illustrations are simply beautiful, especially of the images of Amos sailing out into the ocean and you can see the stars in the sky and a beautiful view of the blue ocean and the large grey whales sprouting water from their breathing holes. My favorite images in this book are of the ones where Amos is seen riding on Boris’s back as they truly look like the inseparable pair that the book beautifully promotes.

Parents need to know that this book might be a tad bit too long for smaller children to handle, so probably the best solution to this problem is if the parent reads one half of the book on the first day and then read the second half of the book the next day so that way, smaller children would be able to keep up an interest in the book.

All in all, “Amos and Boris” is a true classic that you should not put down and anyone who wants to learn about the true meaning of friendship can definitely check this book out! I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since the length of this book might bore smaller children.