Solomon the Rusty Nail - Softcover

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.

PreSchool-Grade 2 Solomon is an ordinary rabbit with one extraordinary exception: whenever he scratches his nose and wiggles his toes at exactly the same time, he turns into a rusty nail. Incarcerated by a one-eyed cat, he is soon nailed to the wall in a fit of feline pique. As with other Steig heroes and heroines, a combination of pluck and luck lead him back to the bosom of his worried family. Steig's watercolors are, as always, uniquely expressive, ranging from wryly witty to luminescently lovely. However, there is more than a hint of d ej a vu to the story line: echoes of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (Windmill, 1969) mix with overtones of The Amazing Bone (Farrar, 1976) conjuring up earlierand betterfantasies. In the process of pasting together elements from other fantasies, Steig has created a world leaking at its logical seams. If Solomon can "still hear though he had no ears, and see though he had no eyes," why can he not also talk, though he has no mouth, and thus save himself at once? Furthermore, Solomon discovers his magical power while sitting on a green, flower-sprinkled lawn, then proceeds to mystify his friends, "starting the next day," as they all frolic with sleds on a snow-covered hillside. Now really! Quibbles, perhaps, but ones that glare like errors in this less-than-masterful performance by a master storyteller. Kristi Thomas Beavin, Arlington County Library, Va.
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