Book Summary
Alexander's day starts off on the wrong foot when he awakes with gum in his hair, and he just knows it's going to be a bad day! Things continue to go wrong throughout the day... his brothers get prizes from the cereal box and he doesn't, there's no dessert in his lunch, he has to go to the dentist, his brother makes him fall down, he doesn't like his dinner, there's kissing on T.V., and so on. Several times throughout the story Alexander remarks that he would like to move to Australia.
APA Reference
Viorst, J. (1972). Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
Impressions
This is a really cute book! It tells the story of a bad day through the eyes of a child. You will both sympathize with poor Alexander, as well as giggle at him as he grumbles through his bad day. I thought the illustrations were fantastic! Sometimes black and white drawings are a little "ho-hum", but not these! The pictures are so detailed and the characters so expressive that you don't mind the absence of colors. Definitely a book that everyone can relate to, as we've all had bad days!
Professional Review
Kirkus ReviewsIn the spiky spirit of Sunday Morning (1969) but more truly attuned to a child's point of view, Viorst reviews a really aggravating (if not terrible, horrible, and very bad) day in the life of a properly disgruntled kid who wakes up with gum in his hair and goes to bed after enduring lima beans for dinner and kissing on T.V. At school, "Mrs. Dickens liked Paul's picture of sailboat better than my picture of the invisible castle," and at lunch, "guess whose mother forgot to put in dessert?" After school "my mom took us all to the dentist and Dr. Fields found a cavity just in me," and there is worse to come. It's no wonder the kid's ready to move to Australia, but in the end, "My mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia."
If Alexander's mother is smart to offer casual sympathy without phoney consolation, Cruz and Viorst accord readers the same respect.
Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day by Judith Viorst. [Review of the book Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day by Judith Viorst]. (1972, September 1). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judith-viorst/alexander-and-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-b/.
Library Uses
This would be a good book for discussion and character development. Make a list with the class of all the bad things that happened to Alexander. Discuss the fact that everyone has a bad day and talk about ways to deal with it. Discuss the signs to look for in other people who may be having a bad day and how you can help them. Students could illustrate a time when they had a bad day.
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