Shrek!

by William Steig, Stanley Tucci (Narrator)

* Running time: 8 minutes *

Horribly hideous Shrek leaves home and terrifies everyone he encounters in his search for his equally ugly bride.

©1990 William Steig (P)2007 Macmillan Audio

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Fairy Tales, Classics

1 pages, Audible Audio

First published October 17, 1990

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

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to the family. If you are expecting the movie you will be disappointed. This is different, but the characters and the thrust of the story is about the same. There are no real puns, but he uses some tongue twisting great language. It’s not easy to read, or… I’m tired; one or the other.

Shrek enjoys being repulsive. This is the 90s and most stories are about good things, so this is one of the first children’s books I can think of with an anti-hero.

The artwork is repulsive too and it really fits the story perfectly. We meet donkey and the ugly princess and a witch. Whoever was the screenwriter for this book made it into a billion dollar industry. It all came from this idea by William Steig. It’s pretty fantastic really.

Both kids had fun with this story. The nephew gave this 5 stars and the niece gave it 4 stars, it almost made 5 stars. I think it’s a singular idea and so I gave it 4 stars too. We enjoyed reading this at our house. There was also quite a bit of poetry in the story that was very witty.

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Shrek's case, it's safe to say I prefer the movie. Although I'm not a big fan of that either. I'm more of a classic-fairy-tale kind of person. I like my prince and princess beautiful.

[Ronyell · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Shrek!” is another memorable classic book from the great mind of William Steig and it is about how Shrek, a repulsive ogre, tries to find the princess to marry after he leaves his parents’ home. “Shrek!” is a great book for children who love reading books about monsters.

William Steig has done a great job at both illustrating and writing this modern day fairy tale that is full of attitude. William Steig’s illustrations are truly beautiful and hilarious especially of the images of Shrek himself as he has a green and warty face, a purple shirt and yellow and green striped pants, which make him, look more hilarious than menacing. I also love the images of the trees in this book as they look simplistic yet beautiful, giving this book a somewhat simplistic tone. William Steig makes this story extremely hilarious and full of attitude as Shrek is a character who loves being repulsive and scaring off innocent bystanders, but at the same time, he gives a powerful message to the audience about loving yourself as Shrek loves his own repulsiveness, even if other people do not like his repulsiveness. William Steig makes this book extremely unique as it was one of the few books to have a repulsive character as the main character of the story.



Parents should know that this book does contain the word jack--- and that might offend many parents who do not want their children learning such a word. Even though jack--- is used to describe a donkey in this book, the way that the “a” word is being used now might confuse smaller children and might even entice them to say the word so often. Also, another con of this book is that, in my opinion, it was not as memorable as the movie which is why I gave it a four star rating. Shrek seem more repulsive in this book than he was in the movie and that aspect of his character sort of made him a less likable character in the book, while in the movie, Shrek was a more benevolent ogre who was upset at the way that people treated him and that made him a very likable character in the movie. Also, I felt like the character development was not as strong in this book as it was in the movie and the audience might not feel any kind of bond towards the characters in this book.

“Shrek!” is a great book for children about the importance of being yourself no matter what other people think, but the movie might be a better choice about learning this message since the movie developed the characters much better than this book could. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up due to the use of the word jack---.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about the delightfully dreadful Shrek--the ORIGINAL Shrek. Yes, Shrek is a hideous and vastly unpleasant (and stinky!) ogre, yes there is a donkey, and yes there is an (ugly) princess waiting to be rescued. But, the similarities between the movie end there. This is basically the tale of how Shrek goes around causing havoc, delighting in disgusting people, once he is (literally) kicked out out of the house, er, hole in the ground, by his parents. When he meets a witch who gives him a prophecy, he decides to accept the quest and go find the monstrous princess. The illustrations are (purposely) repulsive, but they certainly do reflect the story well! I feel they are a bit juvenile in style, reminding me of a child's crayon drawings, but I think this is intentional.


SPOILERS: I can certainly see why they made the movie Shrek a bit more loveable and capable of change and doing good. The Shrek in this story is not exactly heroic, though he does get the girl and lives happily ever after (as they terrorize others). Still, I found the stortelling oddly beguiling and, while not my usual cup of tea, it makes a great choice for Halloween or monster-themed reading.

[Vicente Ambou · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE MAGIC SEED
“Once upon the time there was a greenish-ugly ogre in love…” It would be the beginning of this childlike illustrated book for children which, as a modern fairy tale, gives us, through its outlandish little characters and drawings the story of an repugnant ogre who, following the order of his repugnant and greenish parents of getting out to spread the evil, leaves his home to see world and, after many adventures, he ends up by saving an enchanted princess with whom, being uglier than him, he falls in love…, and they were happy ever after.
Or otherwise:
“Once upon the time there was a modern fairy tale written by a cartoonist and storyteller named William Steig. Flying away, this book dropped in a kingdom called DreamWorks, ruled by a Big Wizard named Steve. Everybody saw it as a little book, but Steve the Magician saw it as a Magic Bean instead. He sowed it and, immediately, a plant started to grow and to grow, being seen, with cheers and hearty ovations, by millions and millions, both parents and children, as the tree became higher and higher –the sky as the limit.”
…and from the sky, five shining stars were lit (ever after) to this phenomenal, seminal little book.

[N · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Fat raindrops began sizzling on Shrek's hot knob." -- from Shrek.

You tell me, picture book or porn?

I've only seen snippets of the film but I can't even imagine what the two have to do with one another. I usually go for odd little stories but this was more off than I'm okay with. Picture book Shrek is REALLY, really ugly and mean. He makes movie Shrek look handsome and the princess might make your kid have nightmares.

There's also a [Book: It's a Book] moment with a "jabbering jackass". Look at me, I've already given away all the fun parts.

I can see a kid who is really into Roald Dahl type "bad guys" digging this immensely.

[GRIS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desde que vi la primera película de Shrek, éste siempre ha sido uno de mis personajes favoritos de la animación. Libro muy cortito pero divertido. Go, Shrek!

“Y vivieron horriblemente felices para siempre, asustando a cualquiera que se cruzara en su camino.”

[Ezra · Rating 5 out of 5]

shrek just straight up kills a guy, 5/5

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always think of the German word "schrecklich" - meaning awful or terrible - when I run across a reference to this book, its "hero," or the film based upon them, and that seems completely appropriate (perhaps it was even intentional, on Steig's part?), as Shrek! is the story of one nasty ogre! Uglier even than his ugly parents, with a foul stench that causes flowers to wilt, and a penchant for letting off steam through his ears, Shrek, having been booted from his home, embarks on a quest to find his ideal mate, eventually winning the hand of "the most stunningly ugly princess on the surface of the planet," and living horribly ever after with her...

An anti-fairy-tale like no other, this slender picture-book is one I have long been meaning to read, given the critical acclaim garnered by the film that is (loosely) based upon it. I've been holding off seeing that film, until I had a chance to read Steig's original, and that seems to have been a wise choice, judging by the number of online reviews I have read, complaining that the original does not live up to its (apparently) far sweeter film adaptation. For my part, I found Shrek to be an engagingly monstrous read - perfect for young readers who like "gross" stories and humor - and although I wouldn't say it lived up to some of Steig's other titles (books like Amos & Boris , or Sylvester and the Magic Pebble ), I did enjoy certain moments - like the rhyming courting scene, between Shrek and his princess! - immensely. Recommended to young readers with a taste for truly disgusting monsters, and to fans of William Steig.

[R.S. Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to see Shrek the Musical this evening with my children and we bought the book at the concession stand. I had no idea that the original movie was based on a children's book.

Loosely based. Very loosely.

But Shrek is still our beloved ogre in this book and he revels in his hideousness and delights in his horrible ogre ways. Perfectly Shrek!

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be the meanest, ugliest, most chaotic children's book I've ever read. Steig was 82 years old when this was published, yet he still clearly possesed an unhinged, childlike imagination.

Very much in that Roald Dahl/Quentin Blake vein, Shrek's art and tone also reminded me a lot of Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants and Dogman series. The illustrations are hideously hilarious, the language is playfully old-timey, and there is absolutely no moral at all. I love it.

It is no exaggeration to call Shrek! a work of genius.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on my 'to read' list ever since the first movie came out... (yeah, I'm slow).
And although I didn't really expect anything like the Pixar movie story, this still took me a bit by surprise. But in a good way.
William Steig's story is delightfully horrendous and wondful love story, and I'm sure the kids will love it, after I can explain that, no, this is not the movie-Shrek, this is the original....

[Olivia's Bookish Places & Spaces · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read via audiobook.

"Shrek" is absolutely one of my favorite kid's movies of all time (okay, favorite movies of all time in general). When I saw that the audiobook was available for a reduced price, I jumped at the chance. I love comparing movies to the books they're based on, so I was excited to see the similarities. I'll be honest, the movie is a much looser retelling of the book than I thought it would be, but the book is still good, and the story is very original.

What also made this audiobook phenomenal was that it was read by Stanely Tucci (in my view one of the greatest modern actors), which really added to the listening experience. If you have the chance to do the audiobook version of this, please do because Tucci is absolutely phenomenal with his voice acting.

Four stars for writing, originality and voice performance.

[amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

las þessa í einhverju stundarbrjálæði á netinu. fín. myndin miklu betri.

[Adriana Scarpin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por incrível que pareça só agora li o livro do Steig sobre Shrek e olha, é bem diferente do filme, muito mais subversivo eu diria.

[Coco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro de niños, que inspiró a los guionistas de las películas de Shrek.
Me encantan los dibujitos de cada inicio de capítulo.

[Marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather horrid. I fart in his general direction.

Give me movie Shrek.

[annie mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

thoroughly entertaining and everyone should read it because shrek is love, shrek is life

[Setayeshmor · Rating 5 out of 5]

وایییییی خیلی گیگیلی مگیلی و عشق بود 🥰😍😍😍💚💚💚💚

[Tereza Dodoková · Rating 5 out of 5]

TOP

[ily · Rating 1 out of 5]

No. Shrek es tan feo en el interior como lo es en el exterior. No entiendo cómo puede llegar a ser considerado un libro para niños. O sea, este ogro malvado y repugnante va por la vida siendo malvado y repugnante con los demás. Se supone que el mensaje que el libro da es que la apariencia no lo es todo, que muchas veces nos engaña. Pero Shrek es tratado como a un monstruo, lo cual está justificado por su horrible actitud y forma de ser.

[Taylor C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it amazing how the director and writers made such a lengthy movie based off a 32 page book. I think the room of mirrors has to be my favorite. Something so "repulsive" facing himself so many times. It was amusing and entertaining how much he liked looking at himself. :)

Overall, if you're a huge fan of the movies like me, just take 10 minutes to read the book and see what the original Shrek was like, with his pink jelly bean looking shirt and yellow trousers.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it when the kids were younger... love the film.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall when they were deciding to make this into a full-length movie. It's rather Addams Family-esque, in truth, but who doesn't enjoy a twisted tale now and then?

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otchky-potchky, itchky-pitch, pay attention to this witch

[Fernanda Porras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuando era niña las películas de Shrek que trajo el estudio de Dreamworks me parecía fascinante. Claro, porque no las entendía. Me parecía la historia inocente de un ogro que odiaba a todos pero que en el camino de su oido la vida lo lleva a conocer senderos como la amistad y el amor. Eso mas un montón de chistes con un doblaje mexicano de un burrito gracioso. Cuando me hice más grande, ¡vaya que me obsesioné con esa saga de películas porque ahora sí entendía sus chistes inapropiados! No podía creer que hacía unos años yo, que había crecido en una burbuja, hubiese visto esas películas. ¡Qué grandes los realizadores que hablan de temas incómodos pero absoultamente birllantes en una película para todo público!

Mi sorpresa cuando ya entrada en los veinte descubrí que ¡Shrek! era un libro de William Steig no fue pequeña. ¡Esta historia tiene su origen en un personaje literario! Qué regocijo y dicha que las buenas historias provengan casi siempre de un libro. Hice el comentario tonto a uno de mis mejores amigos de que hacía años quería ese libro, sin imaginarme que iba a alcahuetearme el antojo. A la vuelta de unos meses el libro estaba llegando en una caja con otros enceres a mi casa. Había gomitas de cangreburgers, un ventilador en forma de Bob Esponja en un botecito y otras delicias. Sí, me encanta el dulce -aunque lo tenga prohibido- y Bob Esponja es de las caricaturas más apreciadas de mi infancia.

De alguna manera, esa caja era una oda a mis años de juventud, a aquellos días en los que ni siquiera sospechaba que la vida es un manojo de dudas, circunstancias, miedos y deudas. La vida de adulto tiene sus pros, claro: libertad... y eso es todo, creo. Nunca me había sentido tan confundida como en mi edad adulta. Fue por eso que aquella inesperada caja fue un regocijo, una especie de lugar seguro en el que por semanas me pude refugiar sin tener que pronunciar palabra alguna al respecto. Mi parte favorita fue encontrar al fondo un libro. ¡Shrek! emergió de las profundidades de aquel recipiente con sus colores intensos para recordarme lo fácil que es ser feliz.

Con unas ilustraciones nada prolijas pero perfectas para la obra, Steig hace una oda a la fealdad. No es la historia de Dreamworks, es la historia de un ogro muy muy muy feo que se enamora de una princesa muy muy muy fea. Es amor a primera vista, pero las ilustraciones son de dos criaturas tan horrorosas que da risa. Se hablan de una forma extraña, sus monólgos son muy particulares, y ahí todo tuvo sentido. Si bien las películas no están muy ligadas a la obra y le incluyeron magia y fantasía tipo emporio infantil, sí lograron capturar la gracia de la obra, su irreverencia, su particularidad y unicidad. Esta es de mis piezas infantiles favoritas, pues trae consigo una mezcla de elementos que hacen sonreír, algo que por estos días tanta falta nos hace.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gracias a Blackie Little y Babelio por el envío del ejemplar.

¿Sabíais que la película “Shrek” está basada en este libro escrito e ilustrado por William Steig? Yo no tenía ni idea y, después de leerlo, he de decir que la sorpresa que me he llevado ha sido considerable. Al igual que pasa con muchas otras películas infantiles basadas en cuentos, la historia original es bastante más oscura que lo que luego hemos visto en pantalla.

Los elementos más reconocibles de la película están ahí: el ogro, el burro, la princesa…pero ahí terminan todas las similitudes. Mientras que en la película Shrek es un ogro gruñón y solitario pero de apariencia amigable y buen corazón, en el libro Shrek tiene una apariencia repulsiva y grotesca, sintiéndose orgulloso de ello y disfrutando del miedo y repugnancia que causa en los demás.

Al comienzo del libro Shrek abandona la casa familiar para ir a hacer el mal por el mundo, como corresponde a su condición de ogro. En su camino conocerá a una bruja que predice que se encontrará con un burro que le llevará hasta una princesa, pero para poder casarse con ella antes tendrá que matar a un caballero.

Dada su corta extensión (apenas 40 páginas) la historia no permite desarrollar mucho el personaje ni establecer las motivaciones que le llevan a querer encontrar a la princesa, lo que hace que sea más complicado sentir simpatía por él. Lo que sí conoceremos es un poco más acerca del papel que jugaron su padres en su forma de ser.

La historia está llena de contrastes interesantes. Por un lado Shrek disfruta haciendo el mal y asustando a la gente, pero al mismo tiempo quiere encontrar el amor y sentirse querido; tiene un aspecto grotesco, pero habla de forma poética. Son esos detalles los que hacen que la historia deje un mayor poso en el lector.

El libro manda un mensaje de quererse a uno mismo tal cuál es, con independencia de lo que los demás piensen de ti. Aunque la película reinventa a Shrek para hacerlo más amigable, me ha resultado muy interesante ver el origen del personaje, a pesar de haber sido una historia muy diferente a lo que esperaba.

[Carrey 🍓 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The original Shrek is nothing like the movie. The illustrations are bold and a bit rough, matching the story’s delightfully crude humor. It’s a quick read with surprisingly lively prose. Not a personal favorite, but I can see kids having a lot of fun with it.

[RbbieFrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was just watching Shrek 4 ( movie) and it occurred to me that although some intellectuals says that the realization that we are all one being instead of many kills romance because romance can on lt be between two people ACTUALLY realizing our oneness with spirit is the most deeply emotional romance of all .

Just imagine that God is like Shrek before traded his married life with his kids and good friends and admirers to be a solitary feared ogre again --just for a day--- Just as Shrek had the perfect life but he wanted to experience what it would be like to be on his own . So God had a perfect existence before the creation was created and before he took on many different forms each with an individual consciousnesses all of them suspicious of God and believing only in their own selves . Then just look at how romantic it was when finally shrek won fiona's love and how much better he appreciated his life once he returned to it --all the romance love joy and appreciation was there once he got back .

So , My freinds it IS romantic that we are all one Being but just suffering from amnesia and living an alternative reality because hen we truly fall in love with our only real self and accept we have no separate existence and stop chasing the illusion that we exist apart from God and others --well --It IS intensely romantic and emotional like between Shrek and Fiona when the finally believed that the love between them was real --the ONLY REAL existence and would break the spell of the alternative existence .

It s one of those things you can never understand with your intellect but makes perfect sense--very deep sense--- to your heart .

God is like shrek and we are all like fiona . Except that shrek was not conscious of the consequences of his decision to trade his perfect life for a selfish life and what it would take to return to his perfect life with even greater appreciation for it Except God was :

fully aware of the pain of parting when a part of him was separated off and made to forget
fully aware of the depth of longing both He and his "wife" would feel to reunite once memory(love) was restored and

fully aware of the increased depth of joy upon being reunited -which was God's will and plan....

I remember Shrek said to Fiona "the best thing about today was that I GOT TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU AGAIN " and that is why we were separated and made to forget and live an alternative existence
--so that we could FALL IN LOVE AGAIN WITH OUR PERFECT EXISTANCE
--all over again

Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts 🙂🙏
Robbie (less)

[Malina Skrobosinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so, I can't be the only one that didn't realize that the Shrek we all know and love originated from this book?

As with many children's books, there is a HUGE leap between the book and the movie. There would have to be right? I mean, how can you fit 32 pages into a movie... there's not much to tell. So in keeping with the premise of the book, you have an Ogre, a donkey, a princess, and even a dragon. All the rest... well... you can imagine.

One thing was definitely clear to me when I read the book after having seen the movie. I felt that in the book, Shrek was definitely more accepting of his 'ugliness' and truthfully came across somewhat of a bully rather than a recluse like the movie. While in the movie it's clear that Shrek doesn't like people, in the book, Shrek is actually breathing fire on people. Not cool Shrek, not cool.

That said, I can see how this would be a fun story for children. The hall of mirrors... my favorite part for sure. He was so repulsive, he scared himself. Haha.