William Steig (November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, and writer of children’s books, best known for the picture book Shrek! which inspired the film series of the same name, as well as others that included Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel’s Island, and Doctor De Soto. He was the U.S. nominee for both biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children’s book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988.
Books in order of publication:
1932, Man About Town (New York: R. Long & R.R. Smith)
1939, About People: A book of symbolical drawings by William Steig (Random House)
1941, How to Become Extinct (Farrar & Rinehart), written by Will Cuppy, illustrated by Steig
1942, The Lonely Ones (Duell, Sloan and Pearce)
1944, All Embarrassed (Duell S&P)
1944, Small Fry (Duell S&P)
1945, Persistent Faces (Duell S&P)
1946, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (Simon & Schuster) by Eric Hodgins
1947, Till Death Do Us Part: Some ballet notes on marriage (Duell S&P)
1948, Listen, Little Man! (Orgone Institute Press) by Wilhelm Reich – translated from the German-language essay “Rede an den kleinen Mann”, 1945
1950, The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy
1950, The Agony in the Kindergarten (Duell S&P)
1950, Giggle Box: Funny Stories for Boys and Girls (Alfred A. Knopf), compiled by Phyllis R. Fenner, newly illustrated by Steig
1951, The Rejected Lovers (Knopf)
1953, Dreams of Glory and other drawings (Knopf)
1959, Poker for Fun and Profit (McDowell, Obolensky, 1959), written by Irwin Steig, illustrated by William Steig
1963, Common Sense in Poker (Cornerstone, 1963), written by Irwin Steig, illustrated by William Steig
1963, Continuous Performance (Duell S&P)
From this time, Steig primarily created children’s picture books.
1968 (April), Roland the Minstrel Pig (Windmill)
1968 (September), CDB! (Windmill Books) – picture book
1969, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Windmill) — NBA finalist
1969, The Bad Island (Windmill); reissued as Rotten Island (D. R. Godine, 1984)
1971, Amos and Boris
1972, Dominic — NBA finalist
1973, The Real Thief
1974, Farmer Palmer’s Wagon Ride
1976, Abel’s Island — adapted as a 1988 film
1976, The Amazing Bone
1977, Caleb + Kate — NBA finalist[22]
1978, Tiffky Doofky
1979, Drawings
1980, Gorky Rises
1982, Doctor De Soto — National Book Award, Picture Books
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