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William Steig ( STYGHE; November 14, 1907 – October 3, 2003) was an American cartoonist, illustrator, and children's book author best known for his picture book Shrek, which inspired the film series of the same name. Steig was a prolific contributor of both cartoons and cover illustrations for The New Yorker magazine, and he developed a style of less humorous line drawings that became common on greeting cards as well as in his several published collections.

Steig began writing children's books at age 61, and went on to publish more than 30 other than Shrek, including Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Abel's Island, CDC?, and Doctor De Soto. Steig was the U.S. nominee for the biennial and international Hans Christian Andersen Awards, as both a children's book illustrator in 1982 and a writer in 1988.