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

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Author: Judith Viorst
Illustrator: Ray Cruz
Number of Pages: 28
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, Ltd.
Copyright Date: 1972
Grade Level: Intermediate (4-6)
Honors/Awards: None
Type of Book: Picture Book/Multicultural

Summary:
Alexander’s day starts off badly. He has gum in his hair, he trips on his skateboard, and he drops his sweater in the sink while the water is running. Already he can tell it is going to be “a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” His brothers get toys in their cereal, but he doesn’t. Alexander states that he wants to move to Australia. He has to sit in the middle seat in the back of the car. His teacher doesn’t like his picture of an invisible castle; he sings too loud at singing time and leaves out sixteen during counting time. Alexander’s best friend says he isn’t his best friend anymore. All his friends get dessert in their lunches, but his mom forgot his dessert. He goes to the dentist and finds out he has a cavity. When the dentist says he’ll fix it next week, Alexander says he’ll be in Australia. The elevator door closes on Alexander’s foot; his brother pushes him into the mud and then calls him a crybaby when he cries. When Alexander tries to punch his brother, his mom scolds him “for being muddy and fighting.” Nobody listens to Alexander when he says that he is having “a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” At the shoe store Alexander has to get plain white shoes because they’re out of the shoes he wants, when they pick up his dad, he makes a mess of his office, there are lima beans for dinner and kissing on TV. His bath is too hot, soap gets in his eyes, and he looses his marble to the drain. He has to wear his least-favorite pajamas, his brother takes back a pillow he said Alexander could keep, the night light burns out, he bites his tongue, and the cat didn’t sleep with him. His mom says “some days are like that – even in Australia.”

Commentary:
This book lets children know that they are not alone: everyone has bad days sometimes. Alexander goes through a lot of bad things on his “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” and many children will be able to relate to this. It is a multicultural book in that it pictures an African American child. Although the pictures are not in color, they are very appropriate for the book. It has a dreary theme, and is very likely to depress the reader a little after reading it. On the other hand, Alexander’s mom’s words at the end are encouraging. Some days are just like that. Even in Australia. You can’t run away from your problems, and everyone experiences days like that.

Teaching Ideas:

• Journal about a time when you had a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” You can make a list of all the things that happened to you and draw a picture.
• Draw a picture of what you think Alexander’s “invisible castle” would have looked like if it wasn’t invisible.
• Research Australia
• Learn about cavities, have a dentist visit the classroom
• Make a list of all the bad things that happened to Alexander. Then, on the other side of the paper or the board, write how he could have made those bad things turn out better. Discuss how we can influence whether we have a good day or a bad day

Related Books:
Books by Judith Viorst:
I’ll Fix Anthony
Alexander, Who’s Not (Do you hear me? I mean it!) Going to Move
Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday
Earrings!
Other similar picture books:
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
Fortunately by Remy Charlip

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus

Title: Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
Author: Barbara Park
Number of Pages: 69
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Copyright Date: 1992
Grade Level: Primary – Intermediate (2-6)
Honors/Awards: None
Type of Book: Easy Reader

Synopsis:
Junie B. Jones is off to her first day of kindergarten, except there’s one problem: she doesn’t want to ride the bus. This book is the first in a large series of Junie B. Jones books. It begins with Junie B. meeting her teacher on “Meet the Teacher Day.” She can’t remember her teacher’s whole name, so she just calls her Mrs. At “Meet the Teacher Day,” Junie B. finds out that she will be riding the bus to school, which makes her a little bit scared, because she has never ridden on a bus before. Her mom tells her not to worry, but she worries anyways.
On the first day of school, Junie B. gets on the bus, but a girl wouldn’t let her sit next to her. She put her purse down on the seat and said that she was saving it for her friend. So Junie B. sits in a different seat. But a boy named Jim who was very grumpy sat next to her, and when Junie B. tried to unzip his backpack he yelled at her and moved to a different seat. As people started to pile on to the bus, it got loud and hot. Junie B. decided that she hated the bus.
In school, Mrs. Has the children write their names on name tags and draw pictures of their families. She also brings them on a tour of the school. She has to have a buddy, so she and a girl named Lucille hold hands. Lucille tells her that on the bus ride home, people pour chocolate milk on your head. On the tour, Junie B. learns about the nurse’s office and the principal’s office and the bathrooms (there are two – one for girls where no boys are allowed and one for boys where no girls are allowed). A boy named William has “an emergency” and goes into the boy’s bathroom.
When it is time to line up to get on the bus, Junie B. hides in the supply closet so that she won’t have to get on the bus. When she has hid in the closet for a while, she gets out and starts playing with the art supplies that Mrs. has. Then she decides to go to the Media Center, where she almost gets caught by the school janitor, or, as she calls him, “the man with the can.” So Junie B. looks for a better hiding place in the nurse’s office. Here she puts Band-Aids all over her body, pretends to make calls on the phone, and finally tries to use crutches that are too big for her. This makes her fall down and hit her head on the desk. She runs out of the nurse’s office into the cafeteria, where she realizes that she needs to go to the bathroom, so she runs to the girl’s room, but the door is locked. The boy’s room is locked too, and it’s an emergency! Then she remembers what her mom told her to do if there is ever an emergency – call 9-1-1.
Junie B. runs to the nurse’s office and dials 9-1-1. She tells the woman on the other line that it is an emergency and all the doors are locked, but when the woman keeps telling her to calm down, she hangs up the phone.
She runs outside, not knowing what else to do, and finds that an ambulance, a fire truck, and a police car had shown up at her school. The janitor comes running out and yelling for Junie B. to stop running, and when Junie B. tells him about her emergency, he brings her into the school and unlocks the door to the girl’s room. Mrs., Junie B.’s mom, and the principal come out and scold Junie B. for hiding and not getting on the bus. When Junie B. gets home, her mom tells her about a girl who will be riding the bus for the first time the next day, and she suggests that Junie B. sit next to her. Junie B. likes that idea, and decides that she will bring her purse to school and set it next to her on the bus to save a seat for her new friend, Grace.

Commentary:
All of the Junie B. Jones books are hilarious for those of us who are fluent readers and can understand the humor in her grammatical errors and the mind of a rambunctious kindergartener. I would hesitate to use this book with children who are just learning to read, or who are having trouble with grammar. The good thing, though, about using this book with very young children is that there are many opportunities for teaching moments. Discussions of respecting authority, being nice to other children, and using your inside voice may be a necessity with this book. Junie B. can be disrespectful at times, and she certainly doesn’t treat everyone in her class as a friend.

Teaching Ideas:

• Use passages from the book for children to correct as a grammar/writing assignment


• Junie B. noticed that the name “Lucille” sounds like a seal. Come up with what animal your name sounds like, and talk about spelling differences


• Make name tags on big circles, just like Junie B.’s class did


• Talk about safety, and the meaning of the word “emergency.” Emphasize when it is appropriate to call 9-1-1 and when it isn’t, especially since this is not directly addressed in the book


• Talk about safety in school and on the bus


• Have the children write about a time that something happened to them on the bus, and what they did to make the situation better


• Write thank-you notes to the school bus driver

Related Books:
Books by Barbara Park:
Junie B. Jones series
The Kid in the Red Jacket
Almost Starring Skinny-Bones
Mick Harte Was Here
Books with a School Bus:
The Magic School Bus series by Scholastic Books, Inc.
Miss Honey’s School Bus by Richard Scarry

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen