A young man is haunted by nightmares until a witch gives him a magic formula for untroubled sleep.

Awake and Dreaming

Zemach, Harve

Children's Books

Farrar. Straus & Giroux

Duffy and the Devil was a popular play in Cornwall in the nineteenth century, performed at the Christmas season by groups of young people who went from house to house. The Zemachs have interpreted the folk tale which the play dramatized, recognizable as a version of the widespread Rumpelstiltskin story. Its main themes are familiar, but the character and details of this picture book are entirely Cornish, as robust and distinctive as the higgledy-piggledy, cliff-hanging villages that dot England's southwestern coast from Penzance to Land's End. The language spoken by the Christmas players was a rich mixture of local English dialect and Old Cornish (similar to Welsh and Gaelic), and something of this flavor is preserved in Harve Zemach's retelling. Margot Zemach's pen-and-wash illustrations combine a refined sense of comedy with telling observation of character, felicitous drawing with decorative richness, to a degree that surpasses her own past accomplishments. Duffy and the Devil is a 1973 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year, a 1974 National Book Award Finalist for Children's Books, and the winner of the 1974 Caldecott Medal.

Duffy and the Devil

Literature & Fiction

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Jake and Honeybunch Go to Heaven

Jake and his mule, Honeybunch, disturb the peace of heaven with their merrymaking until God is forced to restore order

Zemach, Margot

"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.

The Judge: An Untrue Tale

Two brothers set out to capture a one-eyed man to display in the marketplace.

A Penny a Look: An Old Story

Watercolor illustrations enhance three simple tales about a princess who receives assistance from a loyal frog friend

The Princess and Froggie

Bersin, Kaethe Zemach

Duffy and the Devil was a popular play in Cornwall in the nineteenth century, performed at the Christmas season by groups of young people who went from house to house. The Zemachs have interpreted the folk tale which the play dramatized, recognizable as a version of the widespread Rumpelstiltskin story. Its main themes are familiar, but the character and details of this picture book are entirely Cornish, as robust and distinctive as the higgledy-piggledy, cliff-hanging villages that dot England's southwestern coast from Penzance to Land's End.
The language spoken by the Christmas players was a rich mixture of local English dialect and Old Cornish (similar to Welsh and Gaelic), and something of this flavor is preserved in Harve Zemach's retelling. Margot Zemach's pen-and-wash illustrations combine a refined sense of comedy with telling observation of character, felicitous drawing with decorative richness, to a degree that surpasses her own past accomplishments.
Duffy and the Devil is a 1973 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year, a 1974 National Book Award Finalist for Children's Books, and the winner of the 1974 Caldecott Medal.

Duffy and the Devil: (Caldecott Medal Winner; National Book Award Finalist) (Sunburst Book)

Square Fish

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.

The Judge: An Untrue Tale (Sunburst Book)

Mommy, Buy Me a China Doll

"When Mommy wonders how to get a china doll for Eliza Lou, Eliza suggests they trade Daddy's featherbed...The ridiculous swapping of sleeping places is aptly portrayed in strong, boldly drawn, colored illustrations which underline the humor and folk quality of the lilting cumulative verses. A deliciously funny picture book for small children."-Booklist

"A get-rich-quick scheme to 'capture a one-eyed man, put him in a cage in the marketplace, and charge a penny a look' proves to be more than pound foolish in this trenchant cautionary tale...Delightfully droll, fancifully detailed pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations add enormously to the wry, sly proceedings."-Starred/School Library Journal. "Genuinely funny."-The Horn Book

Classics

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Zemach, Harve. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Zemach, Harve

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Zemach, Harve. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Awake and Dreaming

Duffy and the Devil

Jake and Honeybunch Go to Heaven

The Judge: An Untrue Tale

A Penny a Look: An Old Story

The Princess and Froggie

Duffy and the Devil: (Caldecott Medal Winner; National Book Award Finalist) (Sunburst Book)

The Judge: An Untrue Tale (Sunburst Book)

Mommy, Buy Me a China Doll

A Penny a Look: An Old Story