Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst is one of my favorite childhood books. Recently, when my dad was cleaning out the bookshelves downstairs, I discovered I still had a copy of it hidden amongst all my older children/young adult books.
Remember those Scholastic book order forms from elementary school? I LOVED those and bought a book each time my teacher would pass them out. Who doesn't like the specials they had in the front offering a brand new book for a mere 95 cents?
I don't recall getting Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for that price, but I'm sure it was well around there. I was a reader on a tight budget then (and still am now)!
What's so amazing about this book? Well, I can't think of anyone I know who has not read this or had someone read it to them. Anyone, whether young or old can connect with this book because lets face it, we've all had bad days that we wish would just end. Bad days usually are triggered by one incident that leads to another negative situation. For the main character, a young boy named Alexander, his day starts out bad right when he wakes up...when he first realizes the gum he had in his mouth during bedtime was now in his hair! From there, everything goes downhill, to tripping over a skateboard, not finding any prize in his cereal box, being unable to sit near the window seat in the car ride to school, having a cavity in his teeth, you name it, he went through it. And the worse part? Everyone else seems to be having a better day than him.
The story also uses repetition for the line, "I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" and uses it consistently throughout the book following each "bad day" incident, along with varying lines about moving to "Australia." It's definitely a great read aloud.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is also illustrated by Ray Cruz, who does a wonderful job bringing the book to life. Sketched in simple black and white, it's also surprisingly very detailed and Cruz captures each character's expression and action well.
Oh course, the second to the last line in the book sums up pretty much everything with, "My mom says some days are like that."
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I did an Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day online search and found that an animated TV musical adaption of this book was made by HBO for a special in 1990.
Check it out for yourself here:
Credit: thom8omb at youtube.com
Definitely not comparable to the book, but nonetheless, it is pretty darn cute and stays true to concepts from the story (the screenplay and song lyrics were written by Judith Viorst herself). Moreover, it brings back memories of how it's like to be an elementary student or anyone else who is having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day."
