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IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE

Name: IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE
Author: Margot Zemach
ISBN: 978-0-374-43636-0

A YIDDISH FOLK TALE

adapted by Margot Zemach ; illustrated by Margot Zemach ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1977

The more you look at Zemach's pages the more commotion there is to notice. And it's a good story, worth repeating.

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Remember the "poor unfortunate man" who feels crowded with his mother, wife, and six children in a little one-room hut—until the Rabbi instructs him to bring his chickens, goat, and cow inside as well?

Marilyn Hirsch did a picture book of the same tale in 1974, with less strength but more variation from page to page; Zemach's scenes—of cumulative chaos indoors, brown shacks from the outside, and the poor man's treks to and from the Rabbi—don't really overcome the story's essentially repetitive staging. But her familiar frowzy figures take on a sturdier cloddishness here, which gives all the squabbling kids, spilt soup, and flying feathers a becoming, down-to-earth vigor.

The more you look at Zemach's pages the more commotion there is to notice. And it's a good story, worth repeating.

Pub Date: March 1, 1977

ISBN: 978-0-374-43636-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: March 1, 1977

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1977

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
EATING UP GLADYS
by Margot Zemach & illustrated by Kaethe Zemach

- BOOK REVIEW
SOME FROM THE MOON SOME FROM THE SUN
by Margot Zemach & illustrated by Margot Zemach

- BOOK REVIEW
NAFTALI THE STORYTELLER AND HIS HORSE, SUS
by Isaac Bashevis Singer & illustrated by Margot Zemach

THANK YOU GOD: FROM KIDS AROUND THE WORLD

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THANK YOU GOD: FROM KIDS AROUND THE WORLD

by Allia Zobel Nolan illustrated by Miki Sakamoto ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011

Families and teachers who want to make children aware of God’s creativity can find better books than this throwback to...

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In simplistic rhyme, children in different countries praise God for the good things in their lives, the scenes a mishmash of cultural stereotypes.

Lady Liberty, pyramids, fiestas with piñatas, “sunlight in Red Square,” “castles and shamrocks,” and “wooden clogs that go click-clack” are pointed out by nearly identical, round-faced, smiling children, differing only slightly in skin and hair colors. The first spread shows children pointing to their unnamed countries on a globe. (The Australian girl appears to point to Greenland!) The first lift-the-flap, double-page spread shows Fourth of July fireworks at the Statue of Liberty. The book includes single-page illustrations on the left (Egypt, Russia, an unspecified East African country, India and Australia) and lift-the-flap pages on the right-hand side depicting Mexico, Ireland, an East Asian country (China or Japan?), the Netherlands and a Nordic nation. The illustrations under the flap add little detail; other than the Mexican example, in which the piñata breaks and the candies shower down in the hidden section, this novelty is not used very effectively. The book’s cultural tone-deafness is evident in such gaffes as the Egyptian children's camel named, of all things, George. Although this book could be used in Sunday schools more interested in feel-good simplicity then accuracy, its small size limits its usefulness with large groups.

Families and teachers who want to make children aware of God’s creativity can find better books than this throwback to ’50s-style international goodwill. (Picture book. 3-5)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-310-72264-9

Page Count: 16

Publisher: Zonderkidz

Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
MRS. MCGEE’S COCONUT
by Allia Zobel Nolan and illustrated by Peter Cottrill

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MIRIAM IN THE DESERT

by Jacqueline Jules & illustrated by Natascia Ugliano ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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Miriam, Moses’s sister, is featured in the fourth in Jules’s Bible series, offering encouragement and guidance to the Israelites as they continue their seemingly endless thirst- and hunger-filled journey through the desert following their escape from Egypt. Miriam’s belief in God’s miracles quells the groups’ negative complaints. “Miracles, miracles / Praise God’s might! / We see miracles / Day and night.” Sweet water and manna wondrously appear to satisfy each one before the travelers reach the mountain of Sinai to receive God’s Ten Commandments. Bezalel, the artist chosen by God to build the Holy Ark, is represented here as Miriam’s grandson (and the narrator of the tale), who plays a crucial role in developing a new spiritual future for the Jews. Deeply colored pastel-and-acrylic double-page paintings effectively portray a legendary biblical setting in a guileless and unsophisticated style; the deep ochres and blues of the desert landscape provide a warm backdrop that takes the edge off the misery of the Israelites. They effectively match the original and simple dialogue-driven text. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)