Rotten Island by William Steig (1994)

Chaos reigns on a wretched island of terrible monsters who freeze into terrible shapes each night only to resume their ceaseless battling in the morning. Then, out of nowhere, a flower appears. Its beauty drives the beasts to utter madness, and the island is transformed. Yet another classic from that (still!) undersung genius of word and image William Steig.

not just for kids

History

Lily6mo ago

Recently discovered a William Steig book that had miraculously flown under my Steig-obsessed radar: the 1994 demented masterpiece ROTTEN ISLAND, wherein all the monsters are horrible to each other to the point of ruin, whereupon a flower appears, throwing them further into hysteria. Everyone kills each other and then the island burns up and then it rains and more flowers grow. A raucous delight! Perfect for small big minds!

3 months ago

Comments

Hitomi

@hitomiJun 29, 2026

I LOVE THIS BOOK

even*cleveland

@evenclevelandJun 29, 2026

It is so good! I can't count how many times we've read it.

Across Rec League

Rotten Island by William Steig

Lily

“Recently discovered a William Steig book that had miraculously flown under my Steig-obsessed radar: the 1994 demented masterpiece ROTTEN ISLAND, wherein all the monsters are horrible to each other to the point of ruin, whereupon a flower appears, throwing them further into hysteria. Everyone kills each other and then the island burns up and then it rains and more flowers grow. A raucous delight! P”