alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day by judith viorst

 Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a 1972 ALA Notable Childrens Book by Judith Viorst with illustrations by Ray Cruz[1][2]. It also received a Georgia Childrens Book Award, a Reading Rainbow book and a George G. Stone Center Recognition of Merit. Viorst later produced three sequels to this work, Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday (1977) followed by Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Attend Move (1995),[4], and Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy ever (2014)

 

 Alexander is a young boy, who is affected by a series of misfortunes during his day that start when he wakes up and finds chewing gum in his hair and drops in his sweater in the sink full of water. In their cereal boxes, his brothers Anthony and Nick get prizes whereas Alexander does not. During a carpool ride to school, Alexander is refused a window seat, fearing that he will become car sick. At school, Alexander experiences negativity in the form of his teacher (his sketch of his own invisible castle, singing too loud during music time and skipping a number during counting time), his best friend switches him with two other friends and no dessert in his lunch box.

Later that afternoon, Alexander visits a dentist and gets an indication of having a cavity in a tooth. Alexander is taken to the shoe shop in order to purchase plain white sneakers. After taking Alexander to meet his father at the office, the latter is not happy with the way Alexander behaves and tells him not to play with the copy machine or pick him up (answer an incoming phone or call someone on the phone) anymore. At home, Alexander is given dinner of lima beans, he watches television shows about kissing, he has some issues with his bath, and he has to sleep in pajamas he does not like.

Another running gag in the book is where Alexander mentions his wish to move to Australia (Timbuktu in the Australian edition of the book). His mother tells him at the end of the book that even in Australia, people can and do have bad days as he does.