William Steig, the godfather of New Yorker cartoonists, began his career at the magazine in 1930. After achieving acclaim with his gang of street urchins, affectionately nicknamed the "Small Fry," he branched out, exploring through his drawings the psychological undercurrents in relationships between parent and child, husband and wife, self and society. In such groundbreaking collections as About People (1939), Persistent Faces (1945), and The Agony in the Kindergarten (1950), Steig laid bare the raw insecurities of childhood. In the process, he introduced symbolic art to mainstream audiences and permanently elevated the place of the cartoon in American culture.

Beginning in the 1960s, Steig demonstrated his understanding and awe of children in numerous award-winning picture books, including such classics as Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1970 Caldecott Medal), Dominic (1972), Gorky Rises (1980), Doctor De Soto (1982 Newberry Award), and Shrek! (1990)—now a major motion picture. His thirteenth book for children, Pete's a Pizza, was published in 1998.