May

28

Book ‘Em: Beyond Shrek.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

May 28, 2007 |

Sylvester And The Magic Pebble by William Steig
(Simon & Schuster, 1969, Caldecott Award Winner)

When Everybody Wore A Hat by William Steig
(Harper Collins, 2003)

Anyone who recognizes the name William Steig probably knows him as the author of the children’s book Shrek, on which the film was loosely based. In fact the original story was darker and stranger, but that’s Hollywood for you: with very few exceptions film adaptations of children’s stories bear very little resemblance to the originals, and the names of authors like Carlo Collodi or Lewis Carrol tend to be forgotten. William Steig, born in 1907, will probably be best remembered by history as the creator of the ogre Shrek, although he was also once dubbed “King of Cartoons” by Newsweek, having produced over sixteen-hundred cartoons and one-hundred and seventeen covers for the magazine. He began writing children’s books at sixty-one, and his third children’s book, Sylvester And The Magic Pebble won the prestigious Caldecott Medal. The story of a young donkey who finds a magic pebble, it’s a bittersweet tale. Although Sylvester makes a wish that gets him in trouble, it’s morally ambiguous. As an author Steig is more interested in characters and their feelings than in trying to preach, which makes his work appealing. This ambiguity runs through much of his work, including the much later story Wizzil (illustrated by Quentin Blake). Everything turns out all right in the end, and while characters may make poor choices, very few are really good or evil.

In 2003, the year he died, Steig published  the children’s book called When Everybody Wore A Hat. The book is slightly autobiographical, but Steig focues on people he knew more than himself. Accompanying the text with childlike illustrations he  describes his world when he was eight in short, simple sentences: “In 1916, when I was eight years old, there were almost no electric lights, cars, or telephones–and definitely no TV.” Later on he says, “In those days, women wore corsets and heels and hats–sometimes with fruit. There was no such thing as a hatless human being. Cops had hats. Criminals had hats. Even monkeys.” In the end he says, “When I grew up I wanted to be an artist or a seaman.” There are two photos of Steig: one of him when he was eight and one as an adult. He doesn’t wear a hat in either one.


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