The Judge: An Untrue Tale

by Harve Zemach, Margot Zemach (Illustrator)

"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.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Kids, Fantasy, Monsters

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Caldecott is based on artwork, I don’t get why this artwork merits an award. It is pretty run of the mill. The story, however, is fun. I love the rhymes throughout the book and the angry old judge. He sees 5 people all telling more and more of the same story and he sends them off to prison. Until the story comes to his door. Each person gives more of the rhyme, which is more and more terrifying.

The kids loved this one. The nephew laughed and laughed at the judge and loved it when he was eaten. Loved it. He gave this book 5 stars. My niece appreciated the rhymes in this story and she too thought it was funny, but only about 3 stars worth of funny.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prisoners are on trial for spreading lies - a judge listens to each one tell of a horrible thing, coming this way. Each prisoner adds more detail,while repeating the testimony of the previous prisoner. The judge has no sympathy for the frightened prisoners and finds them guilty. The ending is a surprise for the judge and delights children, while also making the book interesting for adults.
I enjoyed the expressions of horror on the prisoners' faces and the sternness of the judge. I also enjoyed the vocabulary - 'ninnyhammer' and 'nincompoop' are fun words to read to children.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zemach's drawings are very entertaining, perfectly balanced against minimal text, with great use of the pages' white space. Each defendant that comes before the judge tells an increasingly bigger account of the "horrible thing" that is coming, with each account added to be the next one accused. The verse is witty too. The judge ignores the warnings of those he has learned to be skeptical of, but his disastrous end leaves the defendants free to go. The ending is hilarious, startling and grisly - I wouldn't recommend this one for very young readers.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious story; wonderful illustrations.
One of my favorite of Harve Zemach's books, and our library system withdrew the last copy! Boo hoo!
It has been a long time since I have seen the book, but I read it many years ago; several times as I loved the story. The judge was warned by several people that something terrible was coming, but he didn't believe them and punished them instead. But in the end, he had his come-uppance. I have also always admired the Zemach's illustrative style.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, and no more 'scary' than Red Riding Hood or Hansel & Gretel. I loved the detail in the pictures when I could make it out, such as the first one who was pretending to be one-legged. But usually I couldn't make out detail or coherence in the 'messy' pictures and so I do have to mark the story down a star to only three.

[Shiloah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens when you refuse to listen to others and hold yourself above them? Read this book.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the other reviews of this book very interesting (depending on the lens you use to view this book, some people didn't like it – others love it). I think that this book appeals to the K-2 crowd (for which is intended…). It builds suspense; it can help increase fluency and comprehension with repeated readings, and is humorous with verse. Kids love it and don’t mind re-reading it. The illustrations are attention getting. It’s currently out of print. I've done this book as a choral read and reader’s theater… It’s a super book to act out. Consider it the first “scary” book a child might encounter. As it’s says.. “A horrible thing is coming this way – creeping closer day by day…..”

[Tym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny with a good lesson

[Rebecca Zadick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book two out of five stars because although it was meant to be humorous, I think that it could potentially be frightening to young readers. This Caldecott awarded book is meant for children ages 4+, however, I found it to be a bit mature for anyone under the age of 7 due to some of the illustrations and the content matter. Specifically, the book ends with the judge getting eaten by a large, lion-like creature. The image shows the judge hanging out of the creature's mouth with blood splattering everywhere. Some children may find this image to be funny, but others may find it disturbing or scary. In addition, the subject matter of the text could be potentially confusing for younger children because it involves the court system and being taken away to "jail." However, the sentence structure is easy to read and involves a lot of rhyming and repetition. For example, with every prisoner brought before the judge, the text repeats the phrase, "Please let me go Judge. I didn't know, Judge, that what I did was against the law. I just said what I saw." This phrase is repeated multiple times to show the reader that each prisoner was trying to warn the judge about what they saw despite the circumstances. The illustrations appear to be mixed medium, including in drawings as well as some water coloring. The impressionist style shows the age of the story. The images of the characters wearing curly wigs and colonial outfits date the story as well. The cover page is a single-image cover portraying the judge sitting in his chair. Inside, the text is on the left pages and the illustrations are on the right pages. At the very end of the book after the judge is eaten by the lion, there is no text. Instead, there is a dual-page spread of the creature eating the judge followed by the prisoners walking away free. I am not sure that I would recommend this book to young children because of the difficult content. However, I might recommend it to older children to read for humor. Overall, this book is well-written but not one of the best children's books out there.

[Luann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't so sure what to think of this one! We are told in the title that it is an "untrue tale." It's also crazy and silly but it did make me laugh. One by one, people are brought to the judge who have broken the law by saying that they saw a "horrible thing coming this way, creeping closer day by day." The judge thinks they are lying, which I guess is against the law. As each person is brought in to the judge, they add to the horrible thing's description, such as "Its eyes are scary; its tail is hairy; its paws have claws; it snaps its jaws." The judge refuses to believe them and even calls some of them names. (I learned a new word: ninnyhammer. It means a fool or simpleton; ninny.) I won't tell you the end, but let's just say that the judge should have believed the five people! I would have enjoyed this more with a bit more to the ending - maybe a moral to the story or some sort of funny comment. As I said, I just wasn't quite sure what to think of this one.

This didn't have as many fun details in the illustrations as other Margot Zemach books I've read. This is one of her earlier books so her style must have evolved a bit over time. I did really like the character's faces. They are expressive and fun to look at. But I'm not sure I would have awarded this a Caldecott honor.

One question: Why does the first guy have a peg leg? When he turns around, you can see he's got a full leg that's just bent back behind. I didn't know what that meant at all.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a weird story. I definitely liked "Duffy and the Devil" better than this one. The illustrations weren't as good as other books Margot has illustrated. It won a 1970 Caldecott Honor award, and it must have been an odd year for books as most of the books I read that won the award or honors weren't great.

Five criminals are brought in front of a judge to explain their crimes, which I'm guessing must be lying. Each tale gets more and more fantastical and the judge is so frustrated that he calls them all liars and throws them in jail. It isn't until what they were talking about appears does the judge believe them, but by then it is too late. In hindsight, it was a little scary for my two year old, but I think preschoolers and older would like the rhyming text and the conclusion to the book. Recommended for ages 4-7, 2 stars.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would be fun for a story time because of its rhyming, its build-upon story, and the "scary story" feel to it. Even the judge's name callings would be enjoyed, I'm sure (though I might hesistate having my little child risk learning something I don't want them to pick up on). Yet I wonder what reactions to the ending would be? It can be funny. But it's also a little...um, dark? Well-drawn illustrations.

[Stephanie Delvecchio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: "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." Thank you Amazon!

Themes: Truth, justice, rhyming

Curricular uses: independent reading, read-aloud

Controversies: The moster looks like the devil.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rhyming cumulative tale with a refrain that describes some horrible beast on the way. The judge doesn't believe any of the nonsense and sends all the people who claim the beast is coming to jail. Then, in a series of pictures readers meet the beast and witness the judge's demise. Good read aloud. Must read/see.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Various people appear before the judge, all warning of a horrible creature about to appear. He dimisses them all, despite the fact that their stories all match and become increasingly alarming. We have some fun dramatic irony since we see the monster on the book's cover - too bad you're not listening to them, judge! Cartoony line-drawn illustrations with watercolor.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caldecott Honor picture book. So these individuals come before a judge and tell the story of having seen a monster. And are locked up for being liars. Repetitive and kind of boring. And I don't exactly think that courts work this way. And the twist at the end was obvious. Art was okay, but nothing all that special.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute poem that definitely made me laugh, and the illustrations made the punch line.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprise ending, very entertaining.

[Rachel Zemach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinated by the reviews here, and the implications of them. To me, as a mother and former teacher The Judge is terrific in the big, funny words it uses. I find children respond well to words like nincompoop, ninnyhammer, and the mature-sounding theme of the story, and I believe they feel respected— rather than condescended to. I'm also a fan of the rhymes and clear pictures.

The story underlying the story is about the Vietnam War, and is related to a poem; "Timbuktu." This is what my father told me, at any rate.

My mother wrestled with how scary to make the monster, at the end, because she didn't want of frighten kids, but she also did want to respect their intelligence. She finally hit on a cute, semi-monster that she felt was just right, while my father talked about children's right to enjoy language. That was any mother. And that was my father. Margot and Have Zemach.

The "terrible thing coming this way, creeping closer day by day?" Perhaps it was the future. A future in which these fiercely talented children's advocates were absent.

How I miss them!

[Maria Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

• 1970 Caldecott Honor Book •

Fun book. Each defendant tells the judge “A horrible thing is coming this way” and each subsequent defendant adds to the reasons why the thing is horrible. They’re all put in jail because I guess lying is illegal? This is where the story falls apart a little. Each defendant says, “I just said what I saw.” So they’re all jailed for lying which is a bit much, and also the ending is fairly obvious.

Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each of five people go before the judge claiming they did not know what they did was wrong. Each also warns the judge (cumulatively) about a creature coming their way. With each, the judge declares them to be put in jail. What happens to the judge? Although a bit dated, this would make a fun story to tell. Recommended.

[Shawn Thrasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The criminal justice system is a mess in picture books as well.

Truly fun read, and would make a cute lapsit read aloud for an older child who still wants to hear books read to them.

I wonder if this was based on some folk song or folk tale?

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A judge sends several people to jail thinking they are lying about a monstrous creature only to find out they may not be wrong. A pretty funny repetitive tale. The illustrations are nice but I'm not sure they are Caldecott Honor worthy.

[Mark Anthony Salvador · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story, especially the ending, is subtle. I admired artists like Margot Zemach--being writer and illustrator of her own storybook.

Although I don't see anything so special with this book to win a Caldecott Honor.

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[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, this was in the free stack at the library...krb 3/23/20

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow this eluded me until now. What great illustrations. Hubris never pays. Looking forward to reading this aloud as the rhythm lends itself to oral storytelling.

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Caldecott Honor Book - 1970
Art medium used - watercolor

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A timeless tale, with gruesome justice that delighted my 9 year old son.

[MaryAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is clever (albeit a little gruesome). I love Zermach’s illustrative style.