Shrek!

William Steig

Sep 2009 · Macmillan Young Listeners · Narrated by Stanley Tucci

About this audiobook

This audio edition includes narration by Stanley Tucci.

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 foul and hideous being who ends up marrying the most stunningly ugly princess on the planet is what you consider ordinary.

Ratings and reviews

I'm very disappointed, it did not have the sexyness and the lust that the film portrays for the protagonist Shrek. The film is about shrek and his battle with who he truely loves, dokay or Fiona. He later descovers he can only love one. So out of guilt he chooses Fiona over donkay. It was a truely heartbreaking choice but he had to do it in the end. And that's what I feel the audio book lacks. But I don't really like to read tho so that's pretty cool.

February 9 2014

About the author

William Steig (1907-2003) was a cartoonist, illustrator and author of award-winning books for children, including Shrek!, on which the DreamWorks movies are based. Steig was born in New York City. Every member of his family was involved in the arts, and so it was no surprise when he decided to become an artist. He attended City College and the National Academy of Design. In 1930, Steig’s work began appearing in The New Yorker, where his drawings have been a popular fixture ever since. He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968. In 1970, Steig received the Caldecott Medal for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. His books for children also include Dominic; The Real Thief; The Amazing Bone, a Caldecott Honor Book; Amos & Boris, a National Book Award finalist; and Abel's Island and Doctor De Soto, both Newbery Honor Books. Steig's books have also received the Christopher Award, the Irma Simonton Black Award, the William Allen White Children's Book Award, and the American Book Award. His European awards include the Premio di Letteratura per l'infanzia (Italy), the Silver Pencil Award (the Netherlands), and the Prix de la Fondation de France. On the basis of his entire body of work, Steig was selected as the 1982 U.S. candidate for the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration and subsequently as the 1988 U.S. candidate for Writing. Steig also published thirteen collections of drawings for adults, beginning with About People in 1939, and including The Lonely Ones, Male/Female, The Agony in the Kindergarten, and Our Miserable Life. He died in Boston at the age of 95.

Stanley Tucci's memorable roles include parts in the films Julie & Julia, The Lovely Bones, The Devil Wears Prada, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, and Lucky Number Slevin. He also wrote, directed, and produced Big Night--winner of an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. For his performance in the Broadway production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Stanley received a Tony Nomination. He has also garnered two AudioFile Earphones Awards for his audiobook narration, which includes reading William Steig's Shrek!