Judge: An Untrue Tale

"One after another, five prisoners before the bench beg to be released on the grounds that they did not know they were breaking the law, they only reported what they saw...Told in wonderfully humorous illustrations and verse, with an ending that is a perfect climax to the suspenseful buildup."-Starred, Booklist

A horrible thing is coming this way
Creeping 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.