Author: Judith Viorst
Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Illustrator: Ray Cruz
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Year: 1972
Format: Hardcover, black and white
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: Emergent
Interest-Level: Elementary
Topics: Daily activities, siblings, parents, food, school, the dentist, Australia
Summary: Through this tale follows the daily life of Alexander who is having a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” and he just wants to go to Australia. This funny story follows his mishaps beginning with gum in his hair, losing his best friend, going to the dentist, and lastly being told by his mother that even in Australia people have “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days”.
Extension Activities:
*For this book you could promote a discussion with the class on “Have you had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day?” Being by asking the children that question and let me voice if they’ve had one or what they think a bad day is.
*The illustrations in this book are sketches in black and white. You could provide the children with a piece of white paper and pencils have them sketch a timeline of a “Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day”. This will help children with sequence but also uses their imagination.
