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It Could Always be Worse, written and illustrated by Margot Zemach is a 1976 picture book published by Farrar starus Giroux. It could always be worse was a Caldecott Medal Honor Book for 1978.

Description
The story, written by Zemach, is told in third person point of view by a narrator who is not part of the story. The Narrator uses pronouns like "he".

The main Character who is known as the "poor unfortunate man" lives in a one room hut with his wife, his six children,and his mother. As you can imagine since they were so crowded they always argued. One day the man grew so tired that he decided to go to the Rabbi for advice. He explained his situation to the Rabbi and the Rabbi told him to take his chickens, rooster, and goose to live with him and his family in the hut.The advice that the Rabbi gave him seemed to make his situation worse. As a result the poor unfortunate man went back to the rabbi a second time for advice. The Rabbi told him to also put his goat in the hut. The man did just as the rabbi told him. Practically in tears he went back to the rabbi for advice since his situation only got worse. The Rabbi told the man to put the cow in the hut too. The man did just as he was told only to find how much worse it got. The animals were all over making noises and trampling everything. the unfortunate man went back to the rabbi for a third time. The Rabbi told him to go home and take all the animals out of his hut. The poor unfortunate man did just as he was told and that night him and his family slept peacefully with plenty of room.

Critical Reception
It Could Always be Worse was published to strong reviews. The Horn Book, said " Never has [this] tale been made into a picure book of such beauty and gusto" Kirkus Reviews claimed that "The more you look at Zemach's pages the more commotion there is to notice. And it's a good story, worth repeating."


 * 1953 in literature
 * Children's Literature
 * Picture Books