Abel's Island

Abel's Island

"Abel's Island" is a children's novel written and illustrated by William Steig. It won a Newbery Honor. It was published by Collin Publishers, Toronto, Canada in 1976. It is a survival story of a mouse stranded on an island.

Plot summary

The story is set in the town of Mossville, which is inhabited by civilized animals, such as mice, rabbits, toads and so on. Abel, the story's hero, is an adventurous mouse. As the book begins, Abel is enjoying a picnic with his wife Amanda, but they are interrupted by a fierce thunderstorm and are forced to take shelter in a cave nearby. The two are separated when Abel braves the storm to retrieve Amanda's scarf, blown away by a gust of wind. The storm washes Abel into a river and he is swept downstream until he is stranded on an island.

Abel attempts to escape the island several times but fails; finally he realizes that he must survive on the island by himself. He finds a log and makes it his home. To ease his loneliness, he creates his family out of clay and talks to them.

Later in the novel, another stranded victim from the river, a frog named Gower, comes and befriends Abel. Later, he leaves promising that he will send for help when he gets back home. However, weeks pass and no one comes. Gower either forgot (due to his lack of memory), or he never made it back. Abel then decides to swim against the fierce river. Abel eventually makes the hard trip back and returns to Mossville, where he is reunited with his beloved Amanda.

Animated feature

In 1988, Abel's Island was made into a 30-minute animated film "Abel's Island", directed by Michael Sporn. Abel was voiced by Tim Curry, and Gower was voiced by Lionel Jeffries. In 1989, the movie won an Emmy Award for "Most Outstanding Animated Film under an hour".


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Abel's Island (film) — Infobox Film name = Abel s Island image size = caption = director = Michael Sporn producer = Kit Hawkins, Giuliana Nicodemi, Michael Sporn writer = William Steig (book), Maxine Fisher (screenplay), Michael Sporn (screenplay) narrator = starring …   Wikipedia

  • Abel Douglass — (also Douglas, Duglas) was born on Isle au Haut, Maine, and traveled to San Francisco California on the California Packet with his father and siblings in 1849. The Douglass family first settled in Antioch, then moved to Petaluma CA. They built… …   Wikipedia

  • Abel Tasman — Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603 October 10 1659), was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant.Tasman is best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC United East India Company). He was the first known European expedition to… …   Wikipedia

  • Abel-Tasman-Nationalpark — Ein Küstenabschnitt im Abel Tasman Nationalpark …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Abel Tasman — Abel Janszoon Tasman Fragmento del «Retrato de Abel Tasman, su mujer e hijas» atribuido a Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1637 (no completamente autenticado)[1 …   Wikipedia Español

  • Abel J. Jones — Abel John Jones (May 26 1878 May 8 1949), was a Welsh writer.Early yearsJones was born in Rhymney, Bedwellty, Monmouthshire, south Wales. His parents, David Rees Jones and Hannah Jones (nee Evans) and his sister Annie and brothers Rees and David… …   Wikipedia

  • Abel Huntington — (February 21, 1777 May 18, 1858) was a U.S. Representative from New York.Born in Norwich, Connecticut, Huntington received a liberal schooling.He moved to East Hampton, Long Island, New York, where he practiced medicine.He served as member of the …   Wikipedia

  • Abel Kiviat — Abel Richard Kiviat (June 23, 1892 mdash; August 24, 1991) was an American middle distance runner who at the time of his death in 1991 was the oldest American Olympic medalist. After high school, he was a member and a coach for the Irish American …   Wikipedia

  • Abel Tasman National Park — Daten und Fakten Gründung: 1942 Lage: Neuseeland Südinsel Höhenlage: 0 bis 1.150 m ü. NN Fläche: 225,3 km² …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Abel, Niels Henrik — ▪ Norwegian mathematician born August 5, 1802, island of Finnøy, near Stavanger, Norway died April 6, 1829, Froland  Norwegian mathematician, a pioneer in the development of several branches of modern mathematics.       Abel s father was a poor… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”