#96 of 1001 · November 4, 2020

The book of the day is husband-and-wife team Harve and Margot Zemach’s The Judge, a cautionary tale shot through with sly humor and poetic justice. A pompous judge receives one defendant after another claiming to have seen a terrible monster; he scoffs at their outlandish claims and summarily sentences each to prison. Harve Zemach was the pen name of Harvey Fischtrom, who (somewhat unconventionally) chose to write under his wife’s surname. He constructs the narrative through dialogue alone, with each prisoner’s rhymed attestation supplying a new beat in the cumulatively building verse. Margot Zemach’s loose art style contributes a wickedly cartoonish dimension to the proceedings, particularly in the uproarious twist ending—the monster, in fact quite real, bursts into the courtroom and devours the judge. #margotzemach #harvezemach #thejudge #judge #monster #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks