Shrek!

by William Steig

Book Overview

Before Shrek made it big on the silver screen, there was William Steig's SHREK!, a book about an ordinary ogre who leaves his swampy childhood home to go out and see the world. Ordinary, that is, if a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374466238
• ISBN13: 9780374466237
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: Sunburst
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 8.4" x 10.5"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Nothing like the movie but WONDERFUL!

This was a family favorite for years before the film came out. Nothing against the film, which is a hoot, but the Shrek of William Steig's book is FAR lustier in his awfulness than the movie Shrek. He absolutely REVELS in his disgusting characteristics, and ends up meeting a princess who is the ugliest, most smelly, most horrific thing he's ever seen in his life. Naturally, he falls madly in love! They quote monster poetry to each other:Sadi Shrek, "Your horny warts, your rosy wens, like slimy bogs and fusty fens, thrill me."Said the princess, "Your lumpy nose, your pointy head, your wicked eyes, so livid red, just kill me."Was ever a romance so beautifully begun?!?? This is wonderful, wonderful stuff. Steig absolutely revels in making these two creatures as awful as possible, and young readers (and not so young!) will enjoy the fun that Steig clearly had writing and illustrating this classic book.

Not the movie, but great nonetheless!

Once upon a time there was an ogre named Shrek. Uglier and nastier than any other ogre, he set out on a quest to win the hand of a princess even uglier than him. What challenges must this loathsome creature overcome to win the love of his life?I must admit that I got this book to answer some questions that I had left over from the movie of the same name. Unfortunately, there is very little that the movie and the book have in common. So, if you are looking for a book based on the movie, check out the one by Ellen Weiss.That said, however, this is a hilarious book! My seven-year-old son loved this Shrek's grossness, and laughed his way through the story. The illustrations are a little primitive, but go along with the story quite nicely. If you are into "fractured fairytales," as I am, then you must get this book!

Horribly Likeable

We knew Shrek long before there was a movie. William Steig has once again created an unforgettable character. Kids will love how Shrek revels in his own hideousness!Steig challenges the reader with a high level vocabulary such as fusty fens, varlets and peasants scything blithely, and churlish knaves falling into stagnant moats.Anyone who just saw Shrek and is looking for some sort of movie novelization should go elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, we all loved the movie, but it is only VERY loosely based on this book. The donkey is more given to chomping grass than making wisecracks, for instance.I would recommend this book to parents of little boys and encourage you to check out other works by this author.

A fun fairy tale, but not like the movie

This is the book that the movie "Shrek" is based on, and if you've read many books that were made into movies you'll know that "based on" can be a very liberal term sometimes. This is such a case. The only things that the movie and the book share are there being an ogre named Shrek, a donkey (who only appears briefly), and a princess (who is very different from the movie princess, but I don't want to ruin anything by saying more). The similarities end there.This book is a lot of fun and is filled with art such as you see in the cover picture above, and kids will love it, but the best way to sum up the differences is that the movie was something made for adults that kids will enjoy as well, while the book is something written for children that adults can enjoy."Shrek" the book is a piece of children's literature and would be a great addition to a child's library because, like the movie, it is a non-traditional fairy tale, and it's always good to see things from someone else's point of view. Once you read one of Steig's books, you are bound to get more.