Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by: Judith Viorst (realistic fiction)

Alexander wakes up and already has a bad start to his day when he finds gum in his hair.  His day continues to get worse when he gets to school and becomes frustrated when no one seems to care.  He emphasizes the fact that he wants to move to Australia when all these unfortunate things happen to him throughout the day.  His bad day continues when he goes home, but he comes to realize that some days are just going to be worse than others and he has to learn to deal with them.

I would use this book at the beginning of the year when building classroom community.  Before reading the story, I would ask students if they have ever had a bad day and how that made them feel.  After reading the story, I would tell students every day is not going to be good and sometimes things will happen to make them have bad days. I want students to be comfortable enough to tell me when they are having a bad day, so I can know what's going on with them. Then, I would have them write a letter to Alexander sympathizing with him about his bad day and telling him what they would have done to help him out.  This can be a great way to create a positive atmosphere in your classroom early on in the year.