Pub Date: September 1, 1986
Dewey: E
LCCN: 80068068
Lexile Code: 0860
Features: Illustrated, Price on Product
Target Age Group: 05 to 08
Physical Info: 0.17" H x 10.76" L x 8.39" W ( 0.27 lbs) 32 pages
BISAC Categories:
Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Frogs and Toads | Fantasy | General
Description: Gorky Rises is an imaginative and humorous story about a frog who concots a potion that grants him the ability to fly--from William Steig, the Caldecott and Newbery Medal-winning creator of Shrek!.
Brief description: 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.
Review Quotes:
"One summer morning when his parents aren't about, frog Gorky sets up a laboratory in the kitchen and concocts a potion...His wondrous flight is described in language that bubbles with magical phrases, and the illustrations bloom with Steig's luminous art." --Starred, School Library Journal
"Orbiting Steig's world with Gorky is an experience I recommend to everyone." --The New Yorker