37 pages • 1 hour read
Abel's Island
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Abel’s Island captures author William Steig’s whimsical storytelling style, along with his signature illustrations, as it recounts the tale of a mouse named Abel who is marooned on a deserted island. Abel, separated from his wife and home, lives as a castaway on the island for almost a year, and the experience pushes the cultivated mouse to access his primal, animalistic nature to survive. In the process, Abel learns to trust his intuition and learns he is capable of not only surviving but thriving outside the civilized world. The novella won the prestigious Newbery Honor Award, and director Michael Sporn adapted the story into a 30-minute animated film in 1988 with actor Tim Curry as the voice of Abel. The film won a short film Emmy Award in 1989. Steig is also the author of the popular children’s novel Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, which won a Caldecott Medal, and Shrek!, which was later adapted into an animated film. Steig began his career as a cartoonist for The New Yorker and didn’t begin writing books until age 61.
The source material comes from the Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1976 edition.
Plot Summary
