Abel's Island:

by William Steig

Abel's place in his familiar, mouse world has always been secure; he had an allowance from his mother, a comfortable home, and a lovely wife, Amanda. But one stormy August day, furious flood waters carry him off and dump him on an uninhabited island. Despite his determination and stubborn resourcefulness--he tried crossing the river with boats and ropes and even on stepping-stones--Abel can't find a way to get back home.

Days, then weeks and months, pass. Slowly, his soft habits disappear as he forages for food, fashions a warm nest in a hollow log, models clay statues of his family for company, and continues to brood on the problem of how to get across the river--and home.

Abel's time on the island brings him a new understanding of the world he's separated from. Faced with the daily adventure of survival in his solitary, somewhat hostile domain, he is moved to reexamine the easy way of life he had always accepted and discovers skills and talents in himself that hold promise of a more meaningful life, if and when he should finally return to Mossville and his dear Amanda again.

Abel's Island is a 1976 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year, and a 1977 Newbery Honor Book.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Animals, Adventure, Young Adult

119 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1976

About the author

William Steig was born in New York City in 1907. In a family where every member was involved in the arts, it was not surprising that Steig became an artist.

He published his first children's book, Roland the Minstrel Pig, in 1968, embarking on a new and very different career.

Steig's books reflect his conviction that children want the security of a devoted family and friends. When Sylvester, Farmer Palmer, Abel, Pearl, Gorky, Solomon, and Irene eventually get home, their families are all waiting, and beginning with Amos & Boris, friendship is celebrated in story after story.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...

Reviews

[Lisa of Troy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry I didn’t like this….

Written in 1976, Abel’s Island is a children’s book about a mouse named Abel. One day, Abel is enjoying a picnic lunch with his wife Amanda when the weather turns. Amanda’s scarf goes flying, and Abel runs after it. Through a series of mishaps, Abel finds himself on a deserted island. Will Abel ever find his way back to his beloved Amanda?

This story is essentially a survival book with animals as characters. It was like Hatchett (although Hatchett was better).

Abel’s Island failed to capture my attention. First, the formatting of the book didn’t help. The long paragraphs and sentences and flowery prose just aren’t my style. Second, the storytelling needed refining. For most of the book, Abel is alone; therefore, there is very limited dialogue. However, that is truly a disservice to this book.

This year, I have had the pleasure of reading at least two other books with talking animals, and I loved them both (Animal Farm and Charlotte’s Web). So why were those books awesome and this one was not awesome? The other books had lots of dialogue, and I enjoyed the relationships between the animals. However, this story focused mainly on Abel.

The part that I liked best in the book is when Abel said, “They’re all wondering where I am, of course. Many I don’t even know are wondering. It’s certainly gotten around that Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, of the Mossville Flints, is missing.” This made me burst out laughing because I just read Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin. When the women disappeared, their stuff would be taken to the used clothing shop, and the people of the town would wear their clothes around. I kept imagining Abel returning the very next day to discover all of his clothes given away.

The end of the book is really lackluster, and I wanted more. Abel goes through quite a lot, and the ending seemed oversimplified for such a complicated situation.

Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Facebook Insta

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually thought this was a children's book I was getting, but I read it anyway. It was a lovely quick read. William is a fantastic writer. He has a great ear for vocabulary. At first, I didn't know if I liked our main character Abel. He seemed rather snooty, but he changed so much throughout the story.

One thing I have learned is that when you put person vs nature, that is usually when some of the biggest changes happen in a character. They really have to learn to trust themselves and rely on what they can do.

Abel and his girl are on a picnic when a storm blows up suddenly. They run to shelter and the water is washing everything away. Abel's girl looses a scarf and Abel thinks he can get it for her as it's her favorite. He gets it and then is swept away to an island where he must learn to survive on his own for a whole year.

It's a nice story and the end went really fast. Abel has got plenty of personality. It's a cute story and I will see if my niece is interested in reading it as well.

Cute.

[Phil J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was afraid this book would be about a mouse on an island.
I was amazed that this book is about a mouse on an island. And it's great.

Sometimes, a story is so beautiful that it becomes mythic. The Old Man and the Sea is about more than fishing. The Stranger is about more than bad funeral etiquette. And Abel's Island is about more than a foppish mouse who gets stuck on an island. It's about inner strength. It's about persistence and determination. It's about finding joy in hard times. Most of all, it's about an enduring love for someone who is absent.

I would also argue that Abel's Island is an advertisement for clear, direct prose and a gimmick-free approach to storytelling. Behold:

By the end of the month of August he knew he was an inhabitant of the island, whether he liked it or not. It was where he lived, just as a prison is where a prisoner lives... He thought constantly of Amanda.

Her image was in his mind, as clear as life sometimes, and he smiled with wistful tenderness, remembering her ways. Amanda was dreamy. It often seemed she was dreaming the real world around her, the things that were actually happening...

Wherever he went about the island, he wore Amanda's scarf around his neck, the ends tied in a knot. He would not leave it in the log. (pp. 42-43)

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I do appreciate author (and illustrator) William Steig's rich vocabulary usage, his detailed physical descriptions of in particular nature, weather and that the latter can actually and in fact act and function both as friend and foe and of course that main protagonist Abel manages to not only survive but also to thrive and even flourish on his uninhabited island (after he is swept away during a raging hurricane whilst chasing after his wife's scarf), I would definitely have enjoyed Abel's Island (both William Steig's text and equally his accompanying illustrations) considerably more had Abel been featured and presented by Steig as a human being and not as a mouse.

For the textual nuances and the wonderful nature descriptions of Abel's Island quite majorly notwithstanding and that for readers both young and old who adore words, who love descriptive adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs Abel's Island really does show an absolutely and utterly scrumptious verbal smorgasbord, sorry, but the fact remains that I personally simply do not really enjoy reading about anthropomorphic animal characters and that I in particular textually despise reading about anthropomorphic animal characters who not only talk like humans and behave like humans but who (that) also don human clothing. And well, and therefore, that in Abel's Island, William Steig's mice in particular and also the frog Abel befriends for a while during his sojourn on that island, are not only anthropomorphic in scope with regard to their behaviour and their personalities, but also are both textually and visually featured and presented by Steig as wearing human garb, this indeed has made me right from page one of Abel's Island find the entire premise for this story at best a bit creepy and strange, a tale that I can and do rather grudgingly consider well-written and interesting enough in and of itself, but also at least for me and my reading tastes and desires not really all that enjoyable and rather inherently weird and overly fantastical (and as such also only a three star rating and with me also saying that considering how much I actually find the majority of anthropomorphic animal stories quite anathema to my reading tastes, my three star rating for Abel's Island is actually rather generous on my part).

And finally, I guess I should also point out that I am (at least in my humble opinion) not being hypocritical or having a dual standard considering that one of my all time favourite novels is Anna Sewell's Black Beauty. For yes, while in Black Beauty, Beauty narrates his autobiography and that the horses and ponies also converse with one another in English, the horses and ponies also never act like humans, never talk with humans and never wear any kind of human clothing (and which is what I just do not at all like with Abel's Island or with The Wind in the Willows).

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abel is a happily married mouse. When a Picnic lunch that he and his wife Amanda have become rained out, they quickly seek for shelter. Before Abel can retrieve his wife's scarf, he is quickly swept away by a raging river which sends him toward an island. Abel is determined to get home and back to his wife but will he succeed? Read and find out for yourself.

This was a pretty good animal fantasy and survival story. I loved the illustrations in this too. If you like these types of stories, then definitely look for this book at your local library and wherever books are sold.

[Steven Peck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favoriate book of all time. Favorite. Number 1. Should be scripture.

Amazon.com 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

[Celia · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Steig is a wonderful writer. Really, he's got a way with words. This book was recommended to me by my mom and brother. Who read it together and have continued to read most of Steig's books and altogether fallen in love with his peaceful, clean writing style and lovely stories.

This book follows Abel, a grown mouse who while picnicking with his wife, is attacked by a ferocious storm causing his wife and him to venture into a cave. His wife, who's name is Amanda, accidentally drops her scarf out of the cave and into the storm. Being the kindhearted and brave mouse that he is, Abel goes out to retrieve his wife's scarf. Only to be sucked into the storm once again and further more stranded onto an island with a cherry birch tree.

Abel, who loves the quiet "civilized" life, is quite taken aback at first about his sudden new living style. However over time he learns how to survive and both his skills and him grow. He discovers his talent and mourns the company of his family. He experiments with rafts and surviving the winter and makes a friend at last.

Abel's Island will warm your heart and sweeten you like sugar. A five star book for sure.

[Missy LeBlanc Ivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 - 1970’s Immersion Reading Challenge

Abel’s Island by William Steig (1976) 119 pages.

AR POINTS 3.0 READING LEVEL 5.9
(Ages 8-12 years, Grades 3-7)

3.5 stars rounded up - A cute little mouse survival story. Abel gets swept away from his love, Amanda, and gets stranded on a little island. As he is from wealth and had never worked before in his life, living a plush life of comfort, so he had some hard lessons to learn, living alone on the island. After numerous attempts, trying different ways to get across the little stream and failing, he realizes he will be there for a while. But, he never gives up and eventually, one year later, he musters up some courage and crosses the stream. He then faces other dangers before finally returning home to his love…at 89 Bank Street, Mossville.

I think it could have been more of an adventure story that boys would enjoy more if Abel wasn’t so fixated on his love, Amanda.

- Available to read FREE at Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=...

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an exceptional story! So many wonderful layers. Something for all ages to enjoy! A Robinson Crusoe story for a mouse (and therefore all ages to understand).

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. It reminded me of Russell Hoban's The Mouse and His Child. When Abel the mouse finds himself washed down the stream from his house and marooned on an island, he is forced to use all his resources to find food and shelter to survive. The isolation also gives him time to reflect upon life, which, for me, was the most interesting part of the book. Like Hoban's book, Abel's Island is for thoughtful readers who want more than just an adventure story. Highly recommended!

[Dafne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4'5/5

Abel es un ratoncito acomodado y amante de su vida en la ciudad: con la vida resulta por la herencia de su madre, su gran casa, sus lujos, su amada y sin una vocación en la vida. Se nos muestra como un animalillo prejuicioso, egocéntrico y un poco pedante, llegando a desafiar al tiempo y enfadándose por no poder disfrutar de un agradable picnic con su querida Amanda por culpa de la lluvia, que acaba convirtiéndose en una tremenda tormenta.
A causa de proteger el pañuelo de Amanda, se lanza fuera del refugio exponiéndose a la tormenta y siendo arrastrado hasta una remota isla donde tendrá que dejar de lado su egocentrismo y sus prejuicios para sobrevivir.
Presenciamos un cambio radical en Abel y una concepción preciosa de la naturaleza, de los elementos naturales y de su sabiduría. Es capaz de ver que la naturaleza nos ofrece todo lo que necesitamos y que hay cosas que no son necesarias en la vida. A pesar de estos valores que aprende estando en la isla, también experimenta muchísima soledad y tristeza, pues se da cuenta de que lo único que necesita de su antigua vida en la ciudad es a su querida esposa Amanda, la que ha sido todo para él, la que ha visto más allá de su fachada y siempre ha estado a su lado para apoyarle y amarle incondicionalmente.

Es un gran libro de aventuras, en el que hay valentía, amor, sensatez, instinto y crudeza; pues la naturaleza es bella, pero también es cruel y salvaje. Todo tiene un orden y a Abel le ha tocado ser un ratón, presa de muchos depredadores. Sin embargo lo entiende. Es la cadena natural de la vida y lo único que le queda es defenderse y seguir luchando para volver con su amada.

Ha sido un libro fantástico y precioso. Conforme iba leyendo me imaginaba a mis hijos en la cama, mientras su padre les leía un capítulo cada noche para dormir y lo esperaban con ansia cada día. Está lleno de valores preciosos y de realidad, algo que sin duda quiero que mis hijos entiendan desde bien pequeños.

[Mali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten this book existed until I stumbled across it at the library (looking for a Rebecca Stead book in Children's instead of Teen/YA). But as soon as I saw the cover, it all came back to me: I loved this story of a mouse lost and stranded on a small island; I loved pouring over the pictures. The cover art showing Abel perched in his birch captures the mood of peace and longing that runs through the book. It's even more magical once you read the book and know that he is talking to his own personal star. Like Steig's The Magic Pebble, this is a book about isolation and separation; Abel is stranded for a full year, missing his wife and other family. He makes grand attempts to get back home, but at the same time builds a new home on the island, and that is where the beauty comes from. Abel learns to commune with nature, and he embraces his own nature. He recalls childhood memories, learns his own strengths, and finds the artist buried inside himself.
We don't learn the answers to key questions like what his wife did while he was away, and whether she really felt the mystical messages he sent. But we really don't need to know; we just know he's home. those unanswered questions bothered me more as an adult than they did when I was young. When I was young, I remember being slightly puzzled that the main character was an adult and married -- maybe that's why questions about the wife didn't bother me -- but the adventures entranced me all the same. I'm giving the book 5 stars because I know how much I loved it as a child, and it is a wonderful read for an adult, too.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simple picnic with his wife turns badly when they find themselves caught in a rainstorm! Leaving his wife Amanda to find her scarf Abel is swept away to an island and marooned! Now this socialite mouse must find a way back to the mainland and his beloved Amanda.

First the task of getting through the night! Abel builds shelter, finds food, investigates his surroundings, and tries to find a way to get back.

A simple kids book, this was my favorite story growing up. Follow Abel as he learns to live in his new surroundings.


Reviews:

"With inimitable style, Steig tells the story of a mouse, Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, who gets swept away in a driving rainstorm while rescuing his wife's scarf and winds up stranded on a river island for a year. Abel isn't just a mouse. He's a fastidious Edwardian dandy whose inherited wealth ensures the leisurely comforts he takes such pleasure in. But Abel's high-toned life of leisure conceals a soul full of true grit: once faced with the necessity of surviving. Abel rises to the challenge." --Starred, Booklist

"There was no trouble in locating the best book of the year, William Steig's Abel's Island...Abelard is...resourceful, despairing, persevering and, eventually, triumphant. And so is Mr. Steig triumphant in the quality of his prose-nor has he stinted on the quality and quantity of his illustrations." --George A. Woods, The New York Times

[Carin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh how I loved this book! The surprising thing isn't that it got a Newberry Honor Medla, but that it didn't win! Abel is a charming young mouse, a bit of a fop and a dandy, who is on a picnic with his lovely new wife when a storm kicks up, it becomes more like a hurricane, and Abel is separated from his wife, and eventually blown into a river and carried downstream. He washes up on an island. He has several excellent ideas about how to try to get off the island which he implements immediately, never moping and feeling sorry for himself. They are all unsuccessful. And while he is dealing with his new life, he discovers he is much more handy and resourcesful than ever previously thought possible, but also he finds a hidden talent. Back home he was a somewhat useless, wealthy mouse with nothing really to do but dress nicely and fawn over his wife, but he is very happy that he'll be going back with a vocation. The comparisons to Robinson Crusoe for the preteen set are perfect, and I love how William Steig never talks down to children (in fact, uses some 25-cent words from time to time!)

[Auggiesadorra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main characters in this book are Abel and Amanda. Abel and Amanda went out for a picnic out in the woods. It started to get a little cloudy,but Abel didn't think It would rain. Later on that day it started to rain. It started to rain really hard so they went to find shelter. Luckly Abel and Amanda found a cave that they could stay in till the rain stopped. Amanda’s scarf flew away because of the wind. So Abel went to go chase it, Abel got caught in the wind and never came back.So in this book Abel is mainly just trying to get back home from being swept away by the wind.

I honestly did not really like this book much. It was sort of a good book, but it didn't interest me because, I thought it would've had more action because he got lost in the woods, but it didn't . I would recommend this book to people who have a great interest in adventure.A positive thing about this book was how I liked how the adventure started off right away.Also one thing negative about this book was that there wasn't enough action and fighting in it.This Is an alright book, you should give it a try.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully charming tale about a castaway mouse. We follow Abel, a young dapper mouse who’s always had an easy life and never had to worry about anything. One day, however, he and his wife Amanda are enjoying a nice day out before an increasingly strong rainstorm arrive and it unexpectedly washes him and he wakes up drifting on an abandoned island. While calmly trying to find a way to get back home and living on the island, he wonders if he was brought there for a reason.

For a story about being castaway on an abandoned island, it’s full of charm and thought about life. Throughout it all, Abel manages to keep a optimistic mood and that’s what makes his story so fantastic. A (100%/Outstanding)

[hedgehog · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's like Cast Away, but instead of Tom Hanks, the stranded character is a mouse. And it's 1907. And instead of a volleyball, he makes a bunch of statues of his family to talk to. ("He was amazed at what he had wrought. Good or bad, it was sculpture. It was art.") And this was a Newbery finalist for 1977, so it's not just rodent Hatchet; there's a good deal of philosophical musings about nature and art and being. Heavy stuff. But also the mouse gets drunk. I have absolutely no memory of having read this as a child but I know I did - I remembered Steig's distinctive illustrations as I came across them.

[Ben Loory · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's good, but it's no sylvester and the magic pebble.

or maybe i'm just 39 years old.

[Owen Curtsinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

just the bee's knees

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading this as a kid. I'm having so much fun as a middle school teacher rereading all of my childhood books and recommending them to my students (it gives me an excuse to read them).

[Frankie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the parts where Abel began to lose his grip on the real.

[Katy Harms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to Ingrid.

[The Dusty Jacket · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, of the Mossville Flints, is a very pampered mouse who likes things “just so”. Living off the wealth of his mother, he shares a comfortable house with his wife, Amanda, and lives a life that is predictable, satiable, and pleasant. But on one particular day, during a perfectly nice picnic, Abel’s life is turned upside down when a sudden hurricane separates him from everyone he loves and all that he knows. Lost and alone, can one small mouse—who has been surrounded by ease and extravagance all his life—conjure up enough wit and grit to survive?

I grew up adoring William Steig’s "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" and so I was delighted to see that "Abel’s Island" shared the same valuable moral: possessions can never equal the riches and wealth provided by family. Abel’s cup overflows with friends, family, and fortune, but when circumstances place him in a life-or-death situation, he begins to question his life and his worth and wonders if there might be a bigger being in charge: “Was it just an accident that he was here on this uninhabited island? Abel began to wonder. Was he being singled out for some reason: was he being tested? If so, why?” All of us, at one time or another, have felt like Abel. That just when life seems to be going along swimmingly, the rug suddenly is pulled right out from under us. Is it because we’ve become too complacent? Too comfortable? Or is it simply a reminder of how fragile and temporary life is and that every minute should be cherished and savored and never taken for granted.

I love books for young readers that reinforce the idea that there is strength, resilience, and courage in each of us and these things are waiting for just the right opportunity to emerge. A. A. Milne passed away twenty years before Abel was born on paper, but the words of encouragement that he offered to a bear full of stuff and fluff could very well have been meant for Abel as well: “You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” In the end, Abel proved that he WAS quite able after all. Silly old mouse.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joining the folk who are reading YA books in July, I'm looking forward to making a dent in the Newbery books I want to read.

Abel's Island is a 1977 Newbery honor book that is deceptively simple. While bored with the beginning chapters, as the story progressed, I was captivated by the wonderful illustrations and descriptions of Abel, the sophisticated mouse who was stranded for a year on an island far away from his home.

When on a summer picnic with his new bride Amanda, a sudden storm approaches. Finding shelter in a cave, Abel risks safety to rescue Amanda's wind blown scarf. Whisked away in turbulent currents, it is this prized possession that he clings to through the long year of loneliness.

The pampered, sophisticated Abel humbly learns to fend for himself while facing many perils. Longing for Amanda and his creature comforts, Abel gradually accepts his fat,e while proudly growing in self sufficiency.

While the winter winds whip, when the screeching owl stalks Abel as prey, and when the spring rains swell the river and hinder his escape, Abel survives valiantly and takes solace in the stars at night, in the beauty of the water and the glistening of the snow.

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely read to foster thinking about adversity. Abel, lost in a storm, finds himself far from family and friends on a deserted island with little resources. I continued to admire his positive attitude and perseverance despite the steep odds thrown at him. I think this would make a good read-aloud, but heads up about one scene where Abel gets drunk on wine (!!??) and another where he "defecates". Not a problem in my head, but I'd always like to know those things ahead of time before reading it to my audience be it a classroom full of fourth graders or my seven year old!

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece of children's literature. Deserves six stars. Teachers should be more aware of this book! It is existential in in themes and conflicts and most appropriate for 6-8 grade. I first read it in 5th grade, but I have always been an advanced reader. Has much to say about who am I, what is the world, how do I fit in, what is the universe, what is life and death?Has its humorous moments also. And of course Abel is the cutest mouse ever. Genius!..one the best children's books I ever read.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not a book I was familiar with and strangely enough it came to my attention because a character in a TV series was reading aloud from it. After googling the quote I requested a copy from my library and thoroughly enjoyed this unique story of Abel, a gentleman mouse, who spends a year stranded on an island. Lovely writing and charming illustrations.

[Abner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely little book and one I had never read as a kid. Highlights the power of love and family and its ability to drive the will to survive.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sympathique, un peu long... une version jeunesse de Castaway sauf qu'il parle a des statues, pas à un ballon.

[Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

“How deeply one felt when alone,” wrote William Steig of his protagonist, Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, from the Newberry Honors book Abel’s Island. I had grown up loving Steig’s books (everything from Sylvester and the Magic Pebble to Dr. DeSoto to Pete’s A Pizza, this was my older son’s favorite and we had to make him into a pizza just the way Pete’s parents did).

Somehow, despite my admiration and love for his work, I never read Abel’s Island. Since it was a dreary, rainy Sunday afternoon yesterday, I took the book down from the shelf and became lost within its wonderful pages.

Steig’s use of language (I love when children’s authors use words that a child might be unfamiliar with, such as verdure, so that the child can learn and add new words to their vocabularies. It was always one of my favorite ways to learn new words as a kid. I used to write the words down in a notebook and then go and look them up later in a dictionary), along with his glorious illustrations, drew me in to the story in a way that far surpasses his other books I read. It did not take me long to realize this was the perfect tonic to a rainy afternoon. It tells the story of Abel, a mouse who’s lived a safe and secure life. He and his wife Amanda decide to have a picnic when they’re caught in a rain storm and, when he attempts to rescue his wife’s scarf, poor Abel is washed away in flood waters where he ends up on an uninhabited island.

This book is part rodent Robinson Crusoe, as well as being an odyssey no less than Homer’s. As we watch this once pampered mouse learn to adapt and survive on the island, we are also given these wonderfully introspective passages:

“Somewhere out there, in the night sky-and it could only be night-were the glittering stars, and among them his, the one he had always known. This star, his, millions of miles away, was yet closer than Amanda, because if he had the will and the strength to get up, uncover his window, and look out, he could see it. He knew, therefore, that it existed. But as for Amanda, father, mother, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and the rest of society and the animal kingdom, he had to believe they were there, and it was hard to have this faith. As far as he really knew, he himself was the only, lonely, living thing that existed, and in his coma of coldness, he was not so sure of that.”

It’s an absolutely beautiful piece of writing. Like any great writer, Steig does not write down to his reader, even his young readers. He offers them more than just a survival and adventure story, but one that reveals the inner life of this mouse. Anthrophormism is nothing new to children’s literature (in fact, many of my favorite children’s books such as those by E.B. White, Beatrix Potter, A.A. Milne, and Kenneth Grahame use this technique to give animals human qualities) and Abel is a deeply and wonderfully written example of this at its best. The reader sees him go through a gamut of emotions and feelings: from loneliness to fear to curiosity to pondering about not only his exterior landscape but his interior one as well, often connected.

In one passage, Steig writes:

“Rain caused one to reflect on the shadowed, more poignant parts of life—the inescapable sorrows, the speechless longings, the disappointments, the regrets, the cold miseries. It also allowed one the leisure to ponder questions unasked in the bustle of brighter days; and if one were snug under a sound roof, as Abel was, one felt somehow mothered, though mothers were nowhere around, and absolved of responsibilities.”

What I love about this book is that not only does if offer the reader a character who ponders and wonders, thinks and questions, but it allows the reader to do so as well. Steig invites the reader to do more than simply follow a story from beginning to end, but to meditate on nature and identity. In solitude, this mouse begins to build a new understanding about the world around him and his connection to it. How many children’s books offer up such a reexamination of the meaning of one’s life?

Abel’s Island is a thoughtful, philosophical book as well as an adventure story and it manages to do both well. At one point Abel even finds a copy of the novel Sons and Daughters. His heart races at finding such a discovery because it meant that there were civilized creatures somewhere on the island. Thrilled by this finding, he immediately sets to reading it and discovers that this is an epic tale of bears. After reading a chapter about the war that has broken out between bears, Abel begins to reflect not only on the book but about his own life and his relationship to an owl on the island:

“It made Abel wonder about civilization. But, come to think of it, the owl, who was not civilized, was pretty warlike too. The hero, Captain Burin, was writing home from the battlefield to the one he had waltzed with in the first chapter, the one he loved. It was also winter in the story, and a drunken sergeant was saying things that were foolish and wise and funny – he wished he were hibernating instead of warring.”

William Steig was described as a curious man, who was fascinated by people and how they interacted with each other, with his natural surroundings, and continued to embrace his childhood and a child-like sense of seeing the world. All of this translated into the worlds he created in his books.

When he was once asked what his ideal life would be, he replied, “I often ask myself, ‘What would be an ideal life?’ I think an ideal life would be just drawing.” He paused before adding, “”I’m lucky, I’ve been able to do something I loved all my life.”

And we are lucky that William Steig was able to do what he loved to do and we got to benefit from being able to enter the books he created, especially Abel’s Island, which offers us both grit and grace. If you haven’t read this delightful masterpiece, then I highly recommend that you rush out to your local library (especially on a rainy day) and curl up in your favorite chair and cherish the time it takes to read this splendid, slender volume either to yourself or to a child. You won’t regret it.