Horribly hideous Shrek leaves home and terrifies everyone he encounters in his search for his equally ugly bride.Shrek! is a humorous fantasy picture book published in 1990by American book writer and cartoonist William Steig, about a repugnant greenmonster who leaves home to see the world and ends up marrying an ugly princess.The book was generally well-received upon publication, with critics praisingthe illustrations, originality, and writing. Critics have also described Shrekas an antihero and noted the book's themes of satisfaction and self-esteem. Thebook served as the basis for the first Shrek movie (2001) and the popular Shrekfilm series starring Mike Myers over a decade after its publication.William Steig was a cartoonist at The New Yorker from 1930to the 1960s. He created over 1,600 cartoons and was dubbed "The King ofCartoons". However, he intensely disliked creating advertisements, andstarted writing children's books instead at the age of sixty-one. Steig waseighty-three when he wrote the bookHis books became known for “graphically repeated themes ofstark separation and warm reunion” between parents and their children whilemaintaining the "wit" that was characteristic of his cartoons. Thebooks also commonly included themes such as separation and transformation.Steig's artwork in his children's books was noted for "rich" use ofcolors and were made using watercolor painting and ink. They were compared tohis cartoons that had been published in The New Yorker.The name "Shrek" is the romanization of theYiddish word שרעק (shrek), or שרעקלעך (shreklekh), which came in turn from theGerman Schreck and meaning "fear" or "fright".