By ISBN: 9781471122873
Alexander typically steps out of bed with the wrong foot: he has gum in his hair, he trips on his skateboard, he dips his sweater in the sink – and he just knows that it will be one of THOSE days!
A funny and endearing story that reminds readers that we all have days that everything just seems to go wrong, no one is an exception. Alexander thinks it is best he moves to Australia, but his mom teaches him that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, THOSE days sometimes happen, even in Australia! [It is how we respond to them that determines our course in life.] (In the Australian and New Zealand versions, he wants to move to Timbuktu instead.)
Published in 1972, it is a very uplifting story that ensures a few giggles, and is a wonderful starting point for a conversation about Alexander’s (and our) decisions and how they make things harder for himself (ourselves), and/or what he could have done instead to perhaps make things better, instead of worse. Also offering a great opportunity to communicate unconditional love to children, letting them know that you love them no matter how they feel or how they act, even in times when everything seems to be going wrong – and also that THIS TOO SHALL PASS, and tomorrow we can all try to make better decisions and have a better day! It is a great tool to engage children who struggle to communicate their feelings, and to let them know that sometimes their grumpy feelings are normal.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was first published in 1972, and is an ALA Notable Children’s Book, and has won a George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit, a Georgia Children’s Book Award, and is a Reading Rainbow book. And the beautiful black-and-white illustrations in which Alexander stands out in colour, and the long ongoing sentences, accentuate the ongoing unfortunate events of Alexander’s day!
Viorst followed this book up with three sequels, Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday (1978, ISBN: 9780689306020), Alexander, Who’s Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move (1995, ISBN 9780689820892) and Alexander, Who’s Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever (2014, ISBN: 9781481423533).
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day has also been made into a movie:
