Alicia Has a Bad Day (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Hello! My name is Alicia..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Deliberately childlike paintings put a comic edge on a terrible, rotten, very bad day. Those of, shall we say, artistic temperaments may find a kindred spirit in this debut book's scowling, yellow-haired narrator, Alicia, who wakes up one day in inexplicable misery. First she sulks around the house ("After I mope I lie on the floor and stare at the ceiling. The cracks make faces at me"), then she maliciously stomps on ants outdoors, where a gray cloud threatens to block out a frowning sun. Surrounded by a violent, slashy purple-and-black aura, Alicia writes the word "lugubrious" in her notebook ("Lugubrious is my favorite miserable word. It means dark and dreary"); young vocabulary enthusiasts will enjoy being handed a 50-cent word, the poor definition notwithstanding. Alicia's bleak humor, which lasts until her orange dog cheers her with a friendly lick, grows tedious, but Jahn-Clough's simplistic brushwork, roughly hewn in straight-from-the-tube colors, wryly conveys surliness. Spending time with Alicia might distract a moody reader from an impending tantrum, or simply serve as a reminder that everyone has bad days. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-Alicia awakens to a very bad day and nothing she tries, such as playing loud music and dancing, stamping on ant hills, or moping, seems to help. Finally, she goes outside and is caught in a rain storm, whereupon she comes home and crawls under her bed, which is "the darkest, dreariest place I know." It is there that her dog finds her and licks her face, making her feel better. The theme is an admirable one, but the execution isn't quite successful. The bright cartoon illustrations are childlike, but Alicia's activities and gloom lack the appeal of the situations and emotions that Alexander experienced in Judith Viorst's Alexander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Atheneum, 1972). Children may not understand the "faces on the ceiling" or the illustration of the little girl in a dark cave talking about it being "dark and dreary in my heart." The book just doesn't quite catch the spirit of a child's bad day.
Margaret C. Howell, West Springfield Elementary School, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Baby-Preschool
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 26, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039569454X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395694541
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,471,589 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a picture book worth reading, September 22, 1998

By A Customer

I thought this book dealt really well with the issue of kids having bad days. I read this to my first grade class and they had a lot to say about how they deal with their own bad days. It's great to see a book (besides Alexander and the terrible, no good, very bad day) addressing the fact that young people have bad days, too! Alicia gets herself out of her bad day on her own accord. She is a great, spunky character. Her dog is a treat, too. I hope Jahn-Clough will write more about Alicia. She could be an important character and role model.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delight!, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This book is a delight for readers of all ages. The pictures are vibrant and energetic. The things Alicia does are the same things I do when I have a bad day (except for smooshing ant hills). I want everyone to read this book!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lugubrious, November 14, 2003

By	Liz "gsera" (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alicia Has a Bad Day (Paperback)

Where else will you find the word lugubrious, especially in a book for children? This book is excellent for all the reasons stated by the other reviews, as well as a vocabulary builder!