Just the title of this book peaks kids’ interest even 38 years later. Who can resist such an awesome title–Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day? Really? Not to mention that Judith Viorst does an awesome job of capturing exactly how children, teens, and adults feel on those days when nothing seems to go right. For Alexander, his day starts bad with gum in his hair, tripping over his skateboard, and no prize in his morning cereal. All before he even gets to school. Of course, all sorts of terrible things happen to him at school, but then Alexander has to do something even worse–go to the dentist!!! UGH! After the dentist, he has more bad luck, including lima beans for dinner. Alexander wants to move to Australia, but his mom lets him know that everyone has bad days–even in Australia. (I’m wondering if people have bad days even on the beach in the Bahamas?)
In case you missed it, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst was made into a 30-minute animated musical in 1990. I bought this from Scholastic Book Clubs when I was an elementary classroom teacher, and I used to show it to my third grade class. They loved it because they loved the book. I’m not sure if it’s a great animated special or not–but if you are a fan of the book, you will like this special. Of course, there are some differences, and students and children can find these and use a Venn Diagram to chart them. You can probably still find this video at your public library.
This book can be used in so many ways in the classroom and with home school children. Kids can repeat the phrase “terrible, horrible, no good very bad day” each time it is read. They can make personal connections between their own bad days and Alexander’s. You can discuss with them about how moving away to somewhere like Australia won’t solve their problems and then brainstorm some ways to solve some of Alexander’s problems. Children can also write their own version of this book and title it something like: Margo and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.
