'Tell my fortune, madam, and I'll let you have a few of my rare lice.'

    'Splendid!' crowed the witch. 'Here's your fortune.

        'Otchky-potchky, itchky-pitch
        Pay attention to this witch.
        A donkey takes you to a knight--
        Him you conquer in a fight.
        Then you wed a princess who
        Is even uglier than you.
        Ha ha ha and cockadoodle,
        the magic words are "Apple Strudel."'

    'A princess!' Shrek cried. "I'm on my way!'
        -Shrek, William Steig

Unlike the recent film, William Steig's Shrek is unbothered by the fear and loathing he provokes in people.  He revels in his ugliness and beastliness.  And when he meets his true love, she's just as ugly and beastly as he from the get go.  This makes for a much different story but one that's no less fun.  Mr. Steig's illustrations are simple and straightforward and he obviously takes great delight just in drawing his hideous creation.  Little wonder then that he sees the beauty even within such monstrosity.

(Reviewed:15-Apr-02)

Grade: (A)

William Steig Links:
-ESSAY: What My Husband Saw (JEANNE STEIG, October 11, 2003, NY Times)

Book-related and General Links:
    -AUTHOR SITE : William Steig, Children's Book author
    -William Steig - HarperChildrens
    -Author William Steig (SimonSays.com)
    -Kidsreads.com - William Steig
    -INTERVIEW : The Children's Canon : Kids' book authors pick their all-time favorites Ý: William Steig (Salon, 12/16/95)
    -LETTER : Letter from William Steig to Paul Heins (Hornbook Virtual History Exhibit)
    -STEIG, WILLIAM November 14, 1907- , Author and Illustrator (Educational Paperback Association)
    -William Steig (Mei-Yu Lu, Reference Specialist, ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English and Communication )
    -INTERVIEW : William Steig : One of the most prolific New Yorker cover illustrators and cartoonists for more than 65 years, William
Steig has also created some 30 children's books. He is 89 and lives in Back Bay. (John Koch, 6/22/97, Boston Globe Magazine)
    -ESSAY : Let 'er Play : Classic and iconoclastic books shake up the alphabet and take kids on a trip through the Dictionopolis of the
written word. (POLLY SHULMAN, Salon)
    -LESSON PLAN : Teacher CyberGuide :Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (CyberGuide by Carol Burr, Valerie McAnally, Shannon Taylor, San Diego County Office of Education)
    -LESSON PLAN : Sylvester and the Magic Pebble Written and illustrated by William Steig
    -Yahoo! Directory : Home > Arts > Humanities > Literature > Authors > Children's > Steig, William (1907- )
    -REVIEW : of A GIFT FROM ZEUS : Sixteen Favorite Myths. By Jeanne Steig. Illustrated by William Steig (Wendy Doniger, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW : of PETE'S A PIZZA Written and illustrated by William Steig (Signe Wilkinson, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW : THE TOY BROTHER Written and illustrated by William Steig  (Ellen Handler Spitz , NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW : of Abel's Island by William Steig (Lela Olszewski, SF Site)
    -BOOK LIST : 100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know : SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE by William Steig (NY Public
Library)
    -AWARDS : Caldecott 1970 : Steig, William. ÝSylvester and the Magic Pebble

FILMS :
    -FILMOGRAPHY : William Steig (Imdb.com)
    -FILMOGRAPHY : Andrew Adamson (Imdb.com)
    -INFO : Shrek (2001) (Imdb.com)
    -ESSAY : 'Shrek!' author exclaims his approval of film (Claudia Puig, 06/20/2001 , USA TODAY)
    -ESSAY : Happily Ever Ogre : An anti-fairy tale run amuck (Eric Metaxas, Books & Culture)
    -ESSAY : Does Shrek really end happily (Jeffrey Overstreet, June 11, 2002, Christianity Today)
    -ESSAY : "Shrek" is not Shrek! : William Steig's subversive misanthropy is jettisoned for winking innuendo in the movie version of his children's book. (Margot Mifflin, May 24, 2001, Salon)
    -ESSAY : "Shrek" : Computer animation is a technological miracle. So why does it leave us cold? (Stephanie Zacharek, May 18, 2001, Salon)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (James Berardinelli Reel Views)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Stephen Hunter, Washington Post)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Movie Parables' Michael Elliott)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Hollywood Jesus Visual Reviews)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Matthew Rees, Christian Spotlight on the Movies)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (ELVIS MITCHELL, NY Times)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Paul Malcolm, LA Weekly)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (KENNETH TURAN, LA Times)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Julia Eccleshare, The Guardian)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (BRUCE KIRKLAND, Toronto Sun)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Sabadino Parker, PopMatters)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Bob Aulert, Culture Vulture)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Sean Weitner, Flak)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly)
    -REVIEW : of Shrek (Jaime N. Christley, Film Written Magazine)
    -MORE REVIEWS at Imdb

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