Product Description: Alexander's rotten day is the perfect lead-off for this humorous collection of Judith Viorst's stories and poems about the ups and downs of childhood, read by Blythe Danner. Also included are: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday and The Tenth Good Thing About Barney.
Amazon.com Review: "I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day."
So begin the trials and tribulations of the irascible Alexander, who has been earning the sympathy of readers since 1972. People of all ages have terrible, horrible days, and Alexander offers us the cranky commiseration we crave as well as a reminder that things may not be all that bad. As Alexander's day progresses, he faces a barrage of bummers worthy of a country- western song: getting smushed in the middle seat of the car, a dessertless lunch sack, a cavity at the dentist's office, stripeless sneakers, witnessing kissing on television, and being forced to sleep in railroad-train pajamas. He resolves several times to move to Australia.
Judith Viorst flawlessly and humorously captures a child's testy temperament, rendering Alexander sympathetic rather than whiny. Our hero's gum-styled hair and peevish countenance are artfully depicted by Ray Cruz's illustrations. An ALA Notable Book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a great antidote to bad days everywhere, sure to put a smile on even the crabbiest of faces. (Ages 5 to 9)
The reviews are funnier than the book I absolutely positively love the negative reviews of this book. I realize there are differences in taste and experience, but people seem to miss that the book makes it okay to have a bad day. It validates, from a child's point of view, that your whole day can go horribly terribly wrong. This book is far from negative and depressing, it's uplifting!
My son and I both love this book. It's a soothing reminder that everyone has bad days from time to time. Every mom forgets something in the lunch box. Big brothers are sometimes pills. And there's that one pair of pajamas that just aren't right. This book makes all that yucky stuff OKAY, and that's a gift.
Very Pleased I loved this book and it came to me quickly and in good condition! I had seen it in the past and thought it was a poem. I used it as a performance peace for a church function.
Alexander is great! My daughter loved this book. She is 7 and it was right at her reading level.
Very good lesson - even for adults This book was mentioned in a book called 'Lies Women Believe'. It got my curiosity so I looked for it and bought it. not only is this a great book for kids on how to deal with the 'bad stuff' that happens sometimes, it's a good lesson for adults. Very cute title too!
A Fun way to say "Grrrrrr" I almost didn't buy this book for my four year old, who was having a hard time expressing his emotions verbally, because of some of the feedback on Amazon. I am so glad that I did in fact purchase the book to read with my son. He really enjoyed hearing about Alexander's terrible, horrible, no good, really bad day and has since been better about expressing his negative feelings to me and equating his feelings with those of Alexander. PS: We also really like Alexander who used to be rich last Sunday.
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