A mouse and a whale best friends; there’s a challenge for a writer and artist to set himself. But William Steig was the man to tackle it. Best known now as creator of Shrek, he was growing up in New York during the Great Depression, found himself supporting his parents, dropped in and out of art schools, and became a cartoonist for the New Yorker.

Very different from the standard run of cartoons referencing the minutiae of sophisticated city life, it took a while for the New Yorker to get his work.  He joins the small group of standout artists like James Thurber, Saul Steinberg and Roz Chast who challenge preconceptions and turn the world about. As Maurice Sendak said, ‘There is no school of Bill Steig. there is only Bill Steig.’ So expect a certain heft in his drawing and his word, because that’s what he gives.

There’s a nice exactness. Amos builds a boat during the day and studies navigation at night. He packs ‘various other necessities such as bandages and iodine, a yo-yo and playing cards.’ He sets sail on the sixth of September. The drawings that seem so loose convey emotions with precision.

It is a retelling of Aesop’s lion and mouse fable. The improbable help little brings large is rightly appealing to a child and this tale celebrates the diverse and the deep friendship possible between beings who seem so very different. A lovely book.