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".