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Description

Shrek is a revoltingly ugly and repulsive ogre who, after a series of adventures, falls in love with an equally ugly princess. Many children have delighted in William Steig’s story of incredible ugliness and vulgar behavior--striking a blow for their own liberation against oppressive adult expectations. Why not actually discuss with them the way they (and many of us!) become fascinated with ugliness? Steig’s story also raises an important philosophical question about whether there can be anything genuinely attractive, even beautiful, that is also extremely ugly.

Publication Date

2026

Publisher

Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children

City

Montclair

Keywords

art, beauty, ugliness, vulgarity

Disciplines

Early Childhood Education | Education | Philosophy

Comments

This review was originally published in Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children 15(1): 1, 2000.

<em>Shrek!</em> (1990) by William Steig

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