Zemach, Margot

Margot Zemach was born November 30, 1931 in Los Angeles, California. She attended various art schools in California and studied on a Fulbright Scholarship at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1955-1956. Margot Zemach married Harvey Fichstrom in 1957; they had four daughters including Kaethe who would later become an author and illustrator of children's books. Harvey Fichstrom, under the pseudonym Harve Zemach, authored many of the books Margot Zemach illustrated beginning with Small Boy Is Listening in 1959. The story drew on the Zemachs' experiences in Vienna and their knowledge of the city. The Zemachs collaborated on a number of children's books including Duffy and the Devil : A Cornish Tale, a retelling of a Cornish folk tale that won Margot Zemach the Caldecott Award in 1974. Margot Zemach also received Caldecott Honor citations for The Judge : An Untrue Tale and It Could Always Be Worse . Both stories drew on her love for folk tales, particularly those of Eastern Europe and the Yiddish tradition. Throughout her career, Margot Zemach illustrated and/or adapted a number of European folk tales, as well as some stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Critics have cited her work for its attention to detail and ability to "make things real", sense of motion, and how the "narrative pacing of her illustrations never flagged." Margot Zemach noted that she respected "draftsmanship... and the tradition of fine drawing" and wanted to "join [the] exacting standards of drawing with the wit and fantasy so necessary in children's books." She worked in a variety of media including ink and watercolor, often drawing the same page over and over to get it right. Margot Zemach received the 1979 Kerlan Award for her contributions to children's literature, and died on May 21, 1989 in Berkeley, California.

From the guide to the Margot Zemach Collection, 1959-1985, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])

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