Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Author: Judith Viorst
Illustrated: Ray Cruz

Age appropriate: 5-9

I'm sure this book sounds familiar to many -- it's definitely a classic that I can remember reading. This story is written in the first person by Alexander, a boy of about six years of age, who awakens one day adamant that today is going to be a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day". This attitude follows him through many bad events he encounters during the day: not finding a toy in his cereal box when each of his two brothers do, not getting a window seat on the ride to school when all the other kids in the car do, not receiving a compliment from the teacher when the other kids do, etc. Many of the examples of Alexander's bad luck comes from him observing what the other kids have and him feeling inadequate. There are also incidents that involve him causing his own bad luck: running amok in his father's office or losing his marble down the bathtub drain. Either way, Alexander only reports what is not going his way. He considers moving to Australia to escape it all.

In the end, his Mom tells him that some days are just "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days".

Topics to discuss with the reader about this book:
-What are some of the things that make Alexander upset?
-Would the things that made Alexander upset make you upset?
-What are some of the things that Alexander should have been grateful for?
(i.e. he gets 3 good meals a day, someone drives him to school, he got new shoes, he got to watch TV)
-What are some things that make you upset?
-What makes you feel happy again when you are upset?
-Where is Australia?
-Why does Alexander want to go to Australia?

Programming idea #1:
Give each child a piece of blank paper and ask them to draw a line down the page vertically. On the left side of the page ask the children to write or draw some things that they don't like (foods, games, toys, weather, clothes). On the right side, ask the children to write or draw some things they really like. Bring them back together and ask if anyone wants to share their answers. See if they can articulate why they like or dislike something.

Programming idea #2:
Develop a game board on a sheet of bristol board that is large enough to be seen by a group of 10 children (have the children gather around the board which can be placed on the ground or a table). There is only one player to move along the squares of the board. The piece representing the player could look like Alexander. Divide the board into the parts of Alexander's day (I've suggested 11 examples):
1) wake up
2) eat breakfast
3) ride in the car to school
4) school
4) play at recess
5) eat lunch
6) go to the dentist
7) go to shoe store
8) go to Dad's office
9) eat dinner
10) watch tv
11) take a bath
12) go to sleep

Roll the die and move the player through the game. Each square in the game will be a post-in with either a smiley face or a sad face on it. If the player lands on a post-it with a smiley face, the post-it will say something positive (i.e. in the school category: "Mrs. Dickens liked Paul's picture of the sailboat better than my picture of the invisible castle. I tell Paul that I like his picture too and that he's a good artist. Win 1 ice cream cone". The idea is that the more positive things that are said, the more ice cream cone cards are accumulated. When Alexander lands on a negative box and says something mean (i.e. using the same example with Paul's picture: "I tell Paul that I think his art is yucky and hurt his feelings. Lose 1 ice cream cone."