The World of William Steig

Lee Lorenz

Artisan, 1998 - Art - 207 pages

Welcome to the world of William Steig, a place where "Small Fry" stand on street corners and New York's hoi-polloi rub shoulders with the hoity-toity. Where Roland the minstrel pig and Dominic the piccolo-playing dog wander the land, singing their ballads. Where "People Are No Damn Good, " but children "walk with God." Where poetry rules and time does not pass.

William Steig, the dean of "The New Yorker" cartoonists, began his career at the magazine in 1930. After achieving acclaim with his gang of street urchins, affectionately nicknamed the "Small Fry, " Steig branched out, exploring through his drawings the psychological undercurrents in relationships between parent and child, husband and wife, self and society. In such groundbreaking collections as "About People" (1939), "Persistent Faces" (1945), and "The Agony in the Kindergarten" (1950), Steig laid bare the raw insecurities of childhood. In the process, he introduced symbolic art to mainstream audiences and permanently elevated the place of the cartoon in American culture.

Beginning in the '60s, Steig demonstrated his understanding and awe of children in numerous award-winning picture books, including such classics as: "Rotten Island" (1969), "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" (1970 Caldecott Medal), "Dominic" (1972), "Gorky Rises" (1980), "Doctor De Soto" (1982 Newbery Award), and "Shrek!" (1990). Now 90 years old, Steig continues to express his comic perception of the human plight. His 30th book for children, "Pete's a Pizza," was published this year.

Featuring hundreds of illustrations, including a portfolio of previously unpublished pieces selected by the artist himself, "The World of William Steig" celebratesthe lifework of an uncompromising iconoclast who has never lost sight of the power of humor.

About the author

Lee Lorenz was the art editor of The New Yorker from 1973 to 1993 and its cartoon editor until 1997. A prolific artist himself, he has contributed cartoons and covers to the magazine since 1958, and is the author of more than twenty books, including The Art of the New Yorker and You Know You're Grown Up When... and illustrator of Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Real Men Don't Bond.

William Steig was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1907, and spent his childhood in the Bronx. Steig found an outlet for his talent by creating cartoons for the high school newspaper. After high school graduation, Steig spent two years at City College, three years at the National Academy, and five days at the Yale School of Fine Arts before dropping out. During his early days as a free-lance artist, he supplemented his income with work in advertising, although he intensely disliked it. He illustrated for the The New Yorker, beginning in 1930. During the 1940s, Steig's creativity found a more agreeable outlet when he began carving figurines in wood; his sculptures are on display as part of the collection in the historic home of Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, and in several museums in New England. In 1967, Bob Kraus, a fellow cartoonist at The New Yorker, was in the process of organizing Windmill Books, an imprint for Harper & Row. Kraus suggested that Steig try writing and illustrating a book for a young audience. The result was Steig's letter-puzzle book entitled C D B!, published in 1968. Roland the Minstrel Pig, was published the same year. With his very next title, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, he won the Caldecott Medal. The Amazing Bone was also a Caldecott Honor Book.In 1972, Steig published his first children's novel, Dominic, which won the Christopher Award. Abel's Island followed and was a Newberry Honor Book. William Steig died in October 3, 2003 in Boston Massachusettes.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The World of William Steig
• Editor: Lee Lorenz
• Illustrated by: William Steig
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Artisan, 1998
• ISBN: 1885183976, 9781885183972
• Length: 207 pages
• Subjects: Art / Techniques / Cartooning