FROM THE PUBLISHER

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Featuring hundreds of illustrations, including a portfolio of previously unpublished pieces selected by the artist himself, The World of William Steig celebrates the lifework of an uncompromising iconoclast who has never lost sight of the power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

FROM THE CRITICS

School Library Journal

A handsomely designed and illustrated overview of the artist's long career. In the first pages of the book, Steig tells of his childhood, his talented siblings, and his first earnings as an artist. In the chapters that follow, his art editor at The New Yorker for 20 years describes Steig's development as a symbolic artist and brilliant cartoonist, presenting and commenting on colorful examples of his most famous work for the magazine. The last chapter is devoted to Steig's creation of the children's books that have capped his career. Using full-color reproductions, Lorenz shows how Steig has brought to picture books the skills learned in a lifetime of artistic experimentation and sympathetic observation of the human comedy, writing "stories that combine moral gravity and a clowning irreverence, psychological insight, and a rapturous spirit of abandon." The stature of Steig as an artist makes the book fit comfortably on the art shelves, near works on Picasso and Paul Klee, to whom he is linked and compared in Lorenz's knowledgeable discussion. It's also a fine companion to Selma Lanes's The Art of Maurice Sendak (Abrams, 1984). The comprehensive coverage and thoughtful analysis make this volume an essential purchase for libraries supporting courses in children's literature, and important reading for all adults who love to use those wonderful stories with children.-Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ

Booknews

A splendid presentation of the work of this important and much admired artist known for his cartoons appearing in The New Yorker (he started there in 1930); his children's books (including Doctor De Soto, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, and Shrek!); and his line-drawing depictions of complex emotional states. Today in his nineties, Steig is still thriving and creating. Lorenz (art editor of The New Yorker from 1973 to 1993 and its cartoon editor until 1997) provides biographical and interpretive narrative to accompany 400-plus illustrations in color and b&w, among them some works previously unpublished. John Updike provides the introduction. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

William Steig's wonderful work meshes together his lyrical drawing style, his inspired use of color, his sense of humor, and, most important, his insight into the human condition. He is a true master. — Roz Chast

With his very first picture book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, published thirty years ago, Bill Steig forever changed the landscape of children's books. Steig's infectious delight in rich, subtle storytelling, combined with a graphic style both simple and simply hilarious, has produced a body of work that remains astonishingly fresh and original. There is no school of Bill Steig. There is only Bill Steig. — Maurice Sendak