Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A is for ALEXANDER and His Really Bad Day

Like most parents, there are certain books I remember with special fondness from my children's younger days.  Just thinking about them is enough to bring back warm memories of being curled up with one or both kids, reading through books we know so well we hardly need to look at the pages except to see the pictures.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst was one of those books.  A copy was given to our son (whose shared his middle name with the hero) for his first birthday, and it became a family favorite.  Small kids love repetition, and the Boy would laugh every time we launched into the litany of "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Moreover, like most kids, he was fascinated by a hero who shared his name. (How many kids named Max have a extra shudder for Where the Wild Things Are?  How many girls named Beth have been crushed when their namesake dies in Little Women? ) This is not one of the kids books that was tossed in the Goodwill bin when he started making room for more grown up stuff.

My son is hardly unique, however. This is a book that is loved and remembered by a lot of kids, (just look at all the grown children who use "terrible, horrible, no good etc" in news articles) and I think I know at least a few of the reasons.

One is the aforementioned repetition. Kids love it.  Before they can read, they can recite, and they love books that use the same phrase over and over, because they can join in.  When they work those phrases into their writing as they get older, its both a tip of the hat to everyone who gets the reference, and a warm and fuzzy evoking of childhood.

But even more that this, what kid doesn't identify with Alexander? Everything he tries to do all day goes wrong, and moreover he really has no one to blame but himself, because it's his own actions that go wrong. No wonder the poor guy wants to head for Australia. Kids think that whatever happened on a particular day is not only the worst thing that ever happened to them and the worst thing that ever will happen as well. (And I think grown kids may have some nostalgia for a time when gum in their hair, no desert in the lunch bag, and Lima beans for dinner were the biggest disasters ever.)

This year Alexander is going to be starring in a movie. I shudder at the idea, because the results of extending a children's picture book out to the demands of a full length film are generally atrocious, involving a lot of padding and back story that should be left to a child's imagination. (See the film version of The Cat in the Hat or better yet, perhaps the only movie I was ever tempted to walk out on in the theatre.) 

The wonderful thing about movies of books however, is no matter how bad they are, the original book is still there waiting for us.  Alexander's run of bad luck will no doubt entertain and console children for generations to come.

Because everyone has had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

This post is part of the A-Z challenge. Each day, Monday to Saturday. I will post on a book beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.  Click on the link below to learn more, or to read other alphabetical posts.



9 comments:

  1. Popping over from the A-Z! I love your theme for this month and this was a great book to start with- it was one of my favorites too! It seems every popular book is being made into a movie these days and they never measure up. I have no tolerance for people who don't read the books first ;)

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  2. I hate it when short simple books are dragged out into 2 hour long live action movies. When Chuck Jones did The Grinch as a 30 minute cartoon they had to pad a little, why did anyone think they'd drag it out to two hours? They put in tons of backstory for one thing, and I for one have an imagination of my own and don't need to know why the Grinch is Grinchy. But that was a work of art compared to The Cat in the Hat. Truly one of the worst films I have ever seen. Thank you for coming by,

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  3. Alexander was one of my favorite books growing up. I had no idea they were turning it into a movie. Let's hope that it isn't a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea". I hate it when movies wreck the spirit of a good book. Thank you for the moment of nostalgia! I look forward to seeing what other books make your A to Z list! Erratic Project Junkie

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    1. Thank you Elle. I'm having a lot of fun working on the list right now, and darn it but I think I will have to reread a few.

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  4. What a fantastic theme idea...can't wait to see your other books

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    1. Thank you Andrea, I do think its going to be fun,

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  5. This is a pretty cool theme idea. The Minions have a book they all can relate to actually it's a series, the "David" series like, "No, David!"

    As a kid I had Judy Blume and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Super Fudge

    whowouldathought-kevin.blogspot.com

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    1. When my daughter was young her favorite series was Angelina Ballerina, the boy liked the Little Critter books. Later it was Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. My favorite books as a kid was the Jungle Books and anything by Louisa May Alcott, at least some of which will no doubt make appearences here this month.

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  6. I saw this book a few years ago and loved the title, so I bought it for my young granddaughter. She loved it!

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