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

A wonderful, lovable, so good, very fun movie all about the horrible things that happen to Alexander. They made a few changes to adapt it to the big screen, and even extended the trauma to the bad days of Alexander's parents and siblings, too.

Alexander saw its first adaptation as a stage production at the Kennedy Center in New York in 2000-2001, leading to a national tour and many a community theater version.

Back in the day, the Kennedy Center in New York, NY turned Alexander into a stage production musical. This revitalized interest in the book and prompted Viorst to talk about it's creation a bit more. Here's what she said: "I thought that the notion of 'a bad day,' could serve for him, and for all kids, as it does for adults, a 'container' function, suggesting that this day—this bad news—would (honest and truly!) come to an end."

Also: "I went through the book episode by episode as the narrator told his sad story. I wanted to keep that narration virtually word for word, which I did, while fleshing out the events Alexander describes. And so I gave dialogue to his brothers, parents, friends, etc., and put in a lot of dramatic action, showing as well as telling Alexander's story."

A whole generation after the Alexander books first surfaced—with Alexander himself a father of three—Viorst reflects on how parenting is different in the 21st century.

Judith Viorst writes for everyone: her children's books please grown-ups, too. But she also writes poetry about entering old age and essays about contemporary politics. Check out some more of her view points in this interview.

HBO produced this cartoon version. It starts with a happy-go-lucky song...but we all know that doesn't last long.