It could always be worse Book

I consider picture books to be the 7" singles of the book world. Every now and then you come across the 3-minute gem called the Perfect Pop Record. And so it is with its equivalent among picture books.
Margot Zemach's IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE is one of them.
I should frame it and hang it on the wall, in case I have a bout of thinking things couldn't be worse. I should hang a copy on the wall of my office as well.
Speaking of which: this story helped me in dealing with an office situation. A temporary and ambitious Iranian colleague of mine couldn't stop complaining about the meaningless work she has to do. This bothered me because usually I'm the one doing the complaining (although it has lessened over the years, because it became harder and harder to find original ways to complain). It was almost a role reversal, and her her complain I felt how my colleagues must have felt when I did it. Sometimes I think she was sent to teach me this lesson.
Anyway, being the diplomatic and harmonious type I never told her to shut up and stop complaining. Instead, I taught *her* a lesson. I told her this yiddish folk tale.
She got the message. And smiled, because she liked the package.
Did she stop complaining? Not really, but our mutual awareness of the problem has made her groaning more playful, tongue in cheek.
The power of literature! :)
A few words about the drawing: the increasing chaos of the 'Jan Steen' household in the one-room hut is drawn with infectious relish. And I liked the fact that the rabbi (to whom the head of the household goes to complain of his situation) was drawn sitting alone, outside--a perfect counterpoint to the mess in the hut. This is the kind of elegance that marks perfect pop records, and ditto picture books.