Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by: Judith Viorst

1. Bibliographic Data
Viorst, Judith. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. New York: Atheneum, 2009.

2. Plot Summary
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is about a boy name Alexander who wakes up with gum in his hair and realizes it's going to be a horrible day. His bad starts out with his brothers getting toys in the cereal boxes, and then getting carsick in the car. Once he gets to school, his teacher doesn't like his picture, his best friend said he wasn't his best friend anymore, and then his mom forgot to pack him dessert. After school the dentist found a cavity, he got in trouble for fighting, and they were out of his sneakers at the store. Finally when he got home, he had to eat lima beans, his brother took his pillow, and the cat wouldn't sleep with him. He figured he would move to Australia after this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

3. Critical Analysis
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day describes everybodies day every once in a while. Children will connect with this story because they feel like everything won't go their way sometimes. All of his problems through out the day are something that will happen to any kid, like your best friend picking on you or getting a cavity. The illustrations in the are sketched and in black and white. This leaves the imagaination to come up with colors and picture those in their heads. This book is a classic that any parent can share with their child, and tell them about how it used to be their favorite book.

4. Awards and Review Excerpt(s)
*Smart Book Award 2005
*Best Books List...Books to Read Aloud to Children of All Ages 2003
*Children's Literature..."Cruz captures the mood of the story in his black and white illustrations, which feature creative use of patterns and crosshatching to compensate for the lack of color."

5. Connections
*An activity to do with this book is to ask the children what happened on the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. What did they do to make it better?
*A good idea would be to tie in other classic books like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Where the Wild Things Are, or Caps for Sale.

"Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Children's Literature Reviews. ezproxy.twu.edu:2095/cgi-bin/member/search/f?./temp/~1N2QzZ:18 (accessed September 15, 2010).