Books with author Margot Zemach

Once upon a time a poor unfortunate man lived with his mother, his wife, and his six children in a one-room hut.Because they were so crowded, the children often fought and the man and his wife argued. When the poor man was unable to stand it any longer, he ran to the Rabbi for help.As he follows the Rabbi's unlikely advice, the poor man's life goes from bad to worse, with increasingly uproarious results. In his little hut, silly calamity follows foolish catastrophe, all memorably depicted in full-color illustrations that are both funnier and lovelier than any this distinguished artist has done in the past.It Could Always Be Worse is a 1977 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year, and a 1978 Caldecott Honor Book.

Once upon a time a poor unfortunate man lived with his mother, his wife, and his six children in a one-room hut.Because they were so crowded, the children often fought and the man and his wife argued. When the poor man was unable to stand it any longer, he ran to the Rabbi for help.As he follows the Rabbi's unlikely advice, the poor man's life goes from bad to worse, with increasingly uproarious results. In his little hut, silly calamity follows foolish catastrophe, all memorably depicted in full-color illustrations that are both funnier and lovelier than any this distinguished artist has done in the past.

A horrible thing is coming this wayCreeping closer day by day--Its eyes are scary,Its tail is hairy...I tell you, Judge, we all better pray!Anxious prisoner after anxious prisoner echoes and embellishes this cry, but always in vain. The fiery old Judge, impatient with such foolish nonsense, calls them scoundrels, ninnyhammers, and throws them all in jail. But in the end, Justice is done--and the Judge is gone. Head first! Harve Zemach's cumulative verse tale is so infectious that children won't be able to avoid memorizing it. And Margot Zemach's hilarious pictures are brimming with vitality as well as color.

Once again, Margot Zemach brings new life to a traditional story: the tale of the three wishes granted to those who are kind and compassionate. In Zemach's interpretation, a poor woodcutter and his wife are working in the forest when they hear a faint voice calling: "Help, someone help me!" They promptly rescue an imp whose tail is caught under a fallen tree, and in return he rewards them with three wishes. "Wish wisely, my friends," the imp says in parting. Prophetic words indeed.It soon looks as if this windfall will be nothing but trouble for the woodcutter and his wife. The legendary dilemma they face--which involves a long string of sausages--is subtly dramatized in Zemach's simple text and wry yet heartfelt pictures. She takes particular joy in showing how, in the end, the woodcutter and his wife get just what they wanted all along.Margot Zemach won the Caldecott Medal for "Duffy and the Devil" and was the United States nominee for the 1980 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration.

The legendary, lovable little red hen, famous for her industriousness and independent spirit, returns with more verve than ever in Margot Zemach's interpretation of the classic story. Though small in stature, the little red hen comes through loud and clear when she asks her friends the goose, the cat, and the pig: "Who will plant this wheat?" When they reply "Not I!" our sturdy heroine, assisted by her brood of chicks, sets about planting the wheat herself.At each step along the way--harvesting, threshing, taking the grain to the mill--the little red hen's lazy friends refuse to lift hoof, paw, or wing to help. But when her efforts yield a warm, fragrant loaf of bread, the little red hen is glad to say: "Now I'm going to eat it myself!"