Abel's Island - Softcover

Steig, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782691472 ISBN 13: 9781782691471

Publisher: Pushkin Children's Books, 2017

Synopsis

Winner of the Newbery Medal and Honor: a heartwarming tale of one mouse's struggle to go home, by the author of Shrek! Abel has been happily married to Amanda for over a year. He has a comfortable home, an allowance from his mother, and no reason to worry. But one summer afternoon, a sudden storm blows away Amanda's scarf. Abel rushes after it - and is swept away by the wind. When he finally comes to rest, he finds himself marooned on an uninhabited island. Ever resourceful, he is sure he will escape. He tries everything - bridges, boats, catapults, stepping stones - but gradually comes to realise that there is no way out... As the winter draws in, the canny mouse must endure hunger, danger, and the ever-present threat of an owl with nasty intentions. And will he ever get home? Will he see his beloved Amanda once more?

About this title

Review:

One summer day, newlywed mice Abel and Amanda are out for a picnic in the woods when they are caught in a sudden storm--a "full-fledged, screaming hurricane" to be precise. As they take refuge in a cave, a wind scoops up Amanda's scarf, and Abel foolishly lunges from safety to retrieve it. So begins William Steig's Newbery Honor Book Abel's Island, the ensuing adventures of this rather foppish mouse as he comes head to head with nature. Amazingly, Abel is swept up in a stream, then a river, then eventually marooned on an island (about 12,000 tails long). He is sure that his rescue is imminent: "It's certainly gotten around that Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, of the Mossville Flints, is missing," the society mouse speculates. But he is not so lucky. What will this intelligent, imaginative rodent do to get off the island and back to his beloved Amanda? He busies himself with finding ways to get to shore (including bridges, boats, catapults, stepping stones, and gliders); figuring out what he should eat (everything from mulberries to roasted seeds); and investigating where he should take shelter (in a rotten log). As the weeks and months go by, he misses his books, his paintings, his comfortable stuffed chair, his stylish clothes (now damp, torn, and lumpy), but above all his precious wife Amanda, whom he thinks about constantly. As the mouse faces his new life Robinson Crusoe-style, Abel discovers what it's like to be in tune with the natural world as well as his true nature, and what it's like to return, fortified, to his real home and to the arms of the one he loves. Along the way, readers can't help but rediscover the joys of being alive. (Ages 8 and older, but an engaging read-aloud for younger children, too) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

William Steig (1907-2003) was an American cartoonist, sculptor and illustrator and writer of children's books. He was also the creator of Shrek!, which inspired the film series of the same name. He was the U.S. nominee for both of the biennial international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pushkin Children's Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1782691472
• ISBN 13: 9781782691471
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128