Abel's Island

Abel's Island is a short novel for children by the American writer and illustrator William Steig, published in 1976.

Abel is a mouse of settled habits who lives in comfort with his wife Amanda, and the story of how he loses that life begins with a picnic and a rainstorm. He is washed away from everything he knows and ends up cast away on an island in the middle of a river, where the first problems are food, shelter and the fact that nobody knows where he is. The novel follows a long stay on the island, in which Abel learns practical skills, loses and regains hope, and negotiates with the other animals who share the place with him, including an owl and a frog. His determination is to get back to Amanda, and the book treats his small achievements as genuine ones. Steig writes with dry wit and a good deal of respect for his character's dignity.

The book is a survival story for younger readers in which the hero is a mouse with excellent manners and a great deal of persistence.