Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Title: Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever

Author: Judith Viorst

Illustrator: Isidre Mones in the style of Ray Cruz

Awards: N/A

Age Range: 4-8 years old

Summary: Alexander ate a whole box of jelly donuts, which caused him to have a terrible tummy ache. When his mother found out, she told him there would be consequences for his actions. Alexander was not allowed to play games or watch television. In fact, he had to stay in his room and think about what he had done. He did not like the consequences, so he decided from now on he wanted to be the best boy ever. Alexander's dad challenged him to try to be the best boy over for an entire week, and he agreed. Throughout the week he faces challenges that cause him to want to be "bad," but Alexander always reminds himself to be the best boy ever. It was not until Wednesday morning when Alexander kicked the boy sitting next to him by "mistake" and On Thursday he accidentally messed up the music store. Alexander begins to wonder if he can still be the best boy ever if he makes "mistakes" and has "not-on-purpose accidents" (Viorst). Once the week was officially over, Alexander was happy to have been the best boy ever. Although, he realized it would be way too hard to be the best boy ever for the rest of his life. He decided to eat another box of jelly donuts instead.

Evaluation: I really enjoyed reading this book because it was fun to see how Alexander went about his week. Also, I liked how the story was in first-person point of view and if I used the book with older students this is a book I would use to show them the different points of view. This book would be great for students in the 1st through 4th grade. Students can relate to the book because they have all probably done something where they were punished and did not like it. Therefore, I could have students write in their journal that would be just for me to see a time where they did something and they got in trouble and explain how it made them feel. Also, I think this book would be helpful in teaching students about obeying those in authority and the consequences that can happen if they do not obey.

Comments

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