“I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day,” Alexander repeats over and over throughout the classic children's book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible , No Good, Very bad day. The author, Judith Viorst, presents a particularly terrible day in the life of a child named Alexander. The moment Alexander wakes up with chewing gum in his hair, he assumes it's going to be a terrible day. The story continues with Alexander tripping over his skateboard, losing his best friend, and singing too loudly at school. Unfortunately for him, Alexander's teacher doesn't like the picture he draws of an invisible castle. At lunchtime, the main character's unusually horrible day continues with the lack of dessert in his packed lunch. When he goes to the dentist, he is the only one in his family with a cavity; as a result, Alexander's brothers tease him for crying. Alexander's terrible day seems to get worse at home, where there are lima beans at dinner and people kissing on television. The family's pet cat refuses to sleep with Alexander, but not before Mickey's night light goes out. An incredibly distraught Alexander is determined to move to Australia where, it seems, the agonizing days never happen. In the midst of all the terrible events, the protagonist never considers that that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day could be the result of his own actions. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a classic children's book as it teaches responsibility by following professional guidelines for what constitutes a good children's book. As a child I read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, I remember noticing that Alexander caused many of the problems during his terrible day....... middle of paper... the little things they turn into big problems, and everyone wants to retreat to a place where, ideally, problems don't exist. For Alexander, that place is Australia. For me and countless other college students, that place is home. It is not difficult to allow one horrible day to convince students to give up on academics and return home, but as Alexander's mother explains to her son at the book's conclusion, "Everyone has bad days... Even in Australia" (26 -27). Like Alexander and other children, adults must learn to take responsibility for personal actions, even on terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Works Cited Lehrman, Sara. “What is a good children's book?” The reading teacher. JSTOR. October 1969. Web. 27 October 2011. Viorst, Judith. Alessandro and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1972. Print.