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

American Grub

Title: American Grub
Author: Lynn Kuntz and Jan Fleming
Illustrator: Mark A. Hicks
Number of Pages: 77
Publisher: Scholastic
Copyright Date: 1997
Grade Level: All Ages (K-6)
Honors/Awards: None
Type of Book: Picture Book/Informational

Synopsis:
In American Grub, there are 50 recipes, one for each state in the United States of America. Along with recipes, though, there is also a paragraph including interesting facts about each state, a picture of the state, the nickname of the state, and the capital of the state. In the back of the book, there is an index listing all the different dishes that are described in the book under different categories. There are also some science implications when possible, such as Illinois’ pizza, which includes yeast. We learn that yeast is a fungus and how it makes bread rise.
Examples of Dishes:
New York Delish Deli Duo
Iowa Popzacorn Balls
Arizona Powwow Wow Bread

Commentary:
Even if you’re not going to use this book when teaching, it’s a great book to have on a bookshelf for kids to thumb through in their free time. Although it isn’t a story or a book that you would ever expect a child to read from cover-to-cover, this book has a lot of facts about individual states, interesting cooking ideas that the kids can try out at home, and lots of fun pictures! Kids can learn a lot from reading just one page of this book.

Teaching Ideas:
· Teach about the 50 states
· Talk about the differences between foods in our own country, then expand that to a discussion about the differences between foods in the USA and foods in other countries around the world
· Have students chose one state and give a presentation on it (including state bird, flower, etc. and an example of that state’s food)
· Measurement of ingredients, and learning about the art of cooking
· A lesson on Americanization and immigration
· Talk about taste buds, using the information from page 59
· When talking about Nevada, bring in a Spanish lesson because Nevada means “snowy” in Spanish.
· Talk about trade, and how different places in the world are better suited to produce different products (like oranges from Florida)
· Kitchen and cooking safety, following pages 10-12

Related Books:
Books about the United States:

Books about cooking/food:

Sarah, Plain and Tall

Title: Sarah, Plain and Tall
Author: Patricia MacLachlan
Number of Pages: 58
Publisher: The Trumpet Club
Copyright Date: 1985
Grade Level: Intermediate Grades (4-6)
Honors/Awards: Newbery Medal
Type of Book: Chapter Book/Multicultural

Synopsis:
Anna lives with her Papa, Jacob and her younger brother, Caleb on a farm. Her mother died when Caleb was born. Ever since she died, Papa didn't sing. Papa sends out for a wife, feeling that his children need a mother. The response that he gets back is from Sarah. Sarah has been living in Maine with her brother, but now that her brother is getting married, she feels it's time to move out. They set up a time when she can come to visit and see how she likes the farm. Her last letter before she arrives says, "Tell them I sing."
When Sarah arrives with her yellow bonnet and her cat, Anna and Caleb are overjoyed to see her and get to know her. Sarah tells them about the sea, and Anna and Caleb show her their sheep. Sarah brings them seashells, and Anna and Caleb help her pick wildflowers to dry in the winter. Sarah and the family sing together, and Papa sings too. The whole visit, Anna and Caleb wonder if she will marry Papa and stay with them or go back home to the sea she loves so dearly.
Sarah insists that Jacob teach her how to drive by herself, and Anna and Caleb are nervous about why she wants to go into town by herself. They don't want her to leave, but they aren't naive to the possibility. When Sarah goes into town, they spend the day waiting for her to return. When Sarah finally comes back, she brings blue and gray and green colored pencils: the colors of the sea. She tells them that she will always miss the sea, but she would miss Anna and Caleb and Jacob much more than she could ever miss the sea.

Commentary:
Sarah, Plain and Tall is a beautifully written book that, in the midst of its simplicity, gives the reader countless reasons to fall in love with Anna, Caleb, Papa, and Sarah. Caleb's inquisitiveness, Anna's gentle heart, Papa's quiet spirit, and of course Sarah, plain and tall touch the reader's heart and allow the reader to relate to each of the characters on a personal level.

Teaching Ideas:

• Have children make a table of contents with the chapter titles (shows the theme/main ideas of the chapter) à Idea from Fountas & Pinnell
• Character Web
• Bring seashells in for children to explore, do crafts with them, identify their names from a seashell resource book
• Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting (the sea and the cow ponds, the sea and the prarie)
• Study about prairies
• Make a habitat shoebox
• “Virtual field trips”
• Adding with sea animals or prairie animals (could also tie in algebra with two different kinds of animals – because you can’t combine letter numbers and regular numbers)
• Practice writing letters (perhaps get a pen pal in another class)
• Brainstorm about traveling to a different place (talk to a partner and make a chart)
• Talk about one-room school houses (and perhaps a field trip to Genesee Country Museum)
• State projects on Maine and Kansas

Related Books:

Books by Patricia MacLachlan:
What you Know First
Baby
Journey
More Perfect than the Moon
Books about the Sea:
Time of Wonder by Robert McClosky
One Small Square Seashore by Donald M. Silver
Books about Family:
Mama One, Mama Two by Patricia MacLachlan
Books about living on the Prairie:
The Little House Cookbook by Barbara M. Walker

Just Ella

Title: Just Ella
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Illustrator:
Number of Pages:
Publisher:
Copyright Date:
Grade Level: Intermediate Grades (4th-6th)
Honors/Awards:
Type of Book: Novel

Synopsis:
The story of Cinderella... the real story of Cinderella... after the not-so-happily ever after. We learn about how Ella (called "Cinders-Ella" by her stepsisters) really made it to the ball, won the prince, made it to the castle, became a princess, and after a stunning turn of events, was able to find her real happily-ever-after.
Ella was just a normal young girl whose father got remarried to a stuck-up woman who had two stuck-up daughters. Ella was slowly turned into a servant in her own home as Lucille (her stepmother) came to convince her father that Corrimund and Grizelda couldn't do the hard labor that Ella was so fortunate to be capable of. When her father passed away while crossing the Sualan border to buy books, Ella began to be treated even worse. So when the invitation came inviting all eligible young ladies to a ball in honor of Prince Charming, Ella saw it as an opportunity to gain some independence from Lucielle and the "Step-Evils," as she called them. She would try to find work as a tutor.
Out shopping one day, she found a glass blower who, wanting to show off, agreed to make glass slippers for her. She found her mother's wedding gown in the attic and, after helping the Step-Evils off to the ball, scrubbed herself down and was off!
When she entered the ballroom, she was taken into one ballroom while the girls she entered with were escorted into another ballroom. She spent the night dancing with the prince, and lost track of the time. When the clock struck twelve, she ran out of the ballroom, remembering that she had to clean the attic before the others got back home.
The next day, the prince found her and whisked her off to the palace, where for months she took lessons (which she hated) to learn how to act like a princess (which she was very bad at). When one of her teachers has a stroke, his son, Jed, is sent to teach the class in his place. Immediately, Ella and Jed become great friends. Ella also befriends a servantgirl, Mary. And in the midst of her making friends in the castle and her boring lessons about how to be a princess, she is able to see Prince Charming ("Charm," as she refers to him in her imagination) only once in a while with a chaperone.
Ella soon falls out of love with the prince, realizing that he is a mindless man who wouldn't know how to dress himself every morning if his attendants didn't tell him how. She decides to break the engagement, but when she talks to the prince about it, he doesn't take the news lightly. He ties her up, and calls in his royal advisors to "tell him what to do." When they come in, they leave Ella bound and basically tell her that she can't break the engagement. When she insists that she will never marry the prince, they throw her in the dungeon, where she is treated like a prisoner until (according to their threats) she either agrees to marry the prince or her wedding day arrives and she is forced to marry him.
Ella's connection with the servantgirl, Mary pays off when Mary finds her and brings her food stolen from the kitchen, as well as a shovel. Ella decides to dig her way out of the palace through the "crap hole" in her cell. Mary informs Ella that Jed has been sent to work with the Sualan refugees, which as Ella knows has been Jed's dream for longer than she has known him.
When Ella is able to escape, she travels to the Sualan border to meet Jed and ask him if she can work for him. When she finally arrives, he proposes, confessing his love for her.
Ella was taken by surprise, and asked that they wait a while so she could think about it. Jed is called back to the palace when he receives the news of his father's death, and Ella remains at the campsite doing the work Jed once did. Jed writes to Ella telling about how the prince married her stepsister so as not to cause a scene, and also to tell her that with the connections that he now has he thinks he could end the war against Suala. The book ends with Ella making up her mind that she loves and wants to marry Jed.

Commentary:
This is a wonderfully written book that opens up the reader's mind to possibilities that the original farytale stories don't allow you to believe. A completely fictional book, Just Ella sparks the reader's imagination and encourages creativity in imagining alternate endings to the normal "happily ever afters" that we are so accustomed to. For girls, this book shows the importance of friendship over romance, and unlike other farytales, shows that there isn't always "happily ever after" with "Prince Charming."

Teaching Ideas:

- Before reading the story, have students come up with their own not "happily-ever-after" ending to the Cinderella story

Related Books:

Slender Ella and her Fairy Hogfather, by Vivian Sathre, Chapter Book

The Princess School Let Down Your Hair, by Jane B. Mason & Sarah Hines Stephens, Novel

The Frog Princess, by E.D. Baker, Novel

Rapunzel, by Paul O. Zelinsky, Picture Book, Caldecott Medal