Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, 1972.

Everything is going wrong for Alexander today, from the very moment when he wakes up.  When he wakes up with gum in his hair and trips on his skateboard getting out of bed, he can tell that this isn’t going to be a good day at all.

From getting crammed into the middle seat on the way to school to getting things wrong in class to fights with friends, things just get worse as the day goes on.  He sees other people getting good things and doing things right, but nothing works for him.

His bad luck continues all day long, right up to when he goes to bed.  His mother consoles him a little, saying that “some days are like that.”  Alexander threatens to run off to Australia to get away from everything that’s bothering him, but it won’t work because people can have bad days anywhere, even in Australia.

The book doesn’t offer any real tips to avoiding bad days, mostly just sympathy, showing that bad days can happen to anyone, and they usually do at some point.  Sometimes, there’s nothing to be done about it except try to get through the day as best you can and hope that tomorrow will be better.  Readers can sympathize with Alexander because his problems are the kind of problems that everyone has had at some point, from little things like seeing siblings and friends get treats that he can’t share in to things like fights and cavities at the dentist.

There is a movie based on the book, but, of course, it’s a much longer story.  In the movie, when everything seems to be going wrong for Alexander and no one seems to care, he makes a wish that everyone could experience a day like the one he’s been having.  The next day, everyone in his family has everything going wrong for them.  It’s one chaotic event after another all day, but dealing with their problems together helps bring them closer.  In an odd sort of way, some of the pieces of bad luck end up working out for the best.

This book is the first of a series and was also featured on Reading Rainbow.