The World of William Steig

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 Featuring hundreds of illustrations, including a portfolio of previously unpublished pieces selected by the artist himself, "The World of William Steig" celebratesthe lifework of an uncompromising iconoclast who has never lost sight of the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