I Was So Mad. By Mercer Mayer (1983)

I Was So Mad, by Mercer Mayer is one of my all time favorite children's books. I love the Little Critter series, and can remember being a young child reading these books with my mom before bed. Whenever we were at a book store or another place where I saw a Little Critter book, I just had to have it when I was a child. My mother saved these books (along with a number of others from my childhood library), and she has given them to my children. My son Jonathan always gets a kick seeing Bridgid written in a child's hand writing in the inside cover. The Little Critter is so easily relatable to most little kids. In this book he was getting so mad by normal everyday kid stuff, but it really is the pictures that bring this story to life. While I was student teaching I used this book as part of a character education lesson on dealing with frustration. This was a perfect book because the words were simple, the kids could relate to the story, and they could see through the illustrations how the Little Critter was feeling.

About the Author:  Mercer Mayer was born in Arkansas in 1943, and he moved to and went to college in Hawaii. He began illustrating books in 1966 (and along the way wrote many of them too) and has published over 300 books! Very impressive!! Most of his books are about things that happened to him as a young child, and he also uses things that have happened to his children and grandchildren. He now lives in New England, and there together, he and his wife Gina write the Little Critter books. In 2007, he was chosen as the "Artist of the Year" at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C..
http://www.littlecritter.com/about_mercer_mayer2.html
Genre: Character Education, Fiction, Humor
Grade Level: Preschool and up
Theme: Dealing with frustration
Pre-reading activity: (2nd grade):  We will have a class discussion on frustration. Then we will make a word web. Students will add about times that they felt frustrated and why these things made them feel frustrated.
Post-reading activity: After reading, we will have a class discussion about appropriate responses to being frustrated or dealing with disappointment. Students will then take the Frustration word web and write about one example of feeling frustrated and an appropriate response and then they will share with a partner.

Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. By: Judith Viorst (1987)

I loved reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst. I read it for the first time a few years ago, and as a teacher, I saw so much potential in it. Not only is it a funny book, Alexander's character is very relatable, and there is so much children can learn from Alexander.

Alexander is having just one of those days; one of those days where nothing goes right. He didn't get the window seat on the way to school, he got in trouble in school, he had to go to the dentist, and they found a cavity, etc. Alexander starts to get really down and decides he's going to move to Australia.  Luckily his mom gives him some good words of wisdom, and he starts to see everything in a different way. This is a great book to teach students how to deal with disappointment and that things are not always going to go our way.

About the Author: Judith Viorst was born in 1931 and brought up in New Jersey. She has lived in Washington D.C. since 1960 since she married her husband, Milton Viorst. She has three sons, and I was surprised and excited to learn that their names are Anthony, Nick and Alexander, because those are the names of the brothers in the Alexander series. She writes science books, children's picture books, adult fiction and non fiction, poetry for children and adults and she has also written three musicals.

http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Judith-Viorst/707395/biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Viorst

Genre: Character education, fiction, dealing with disappointment.

Theme: Things are not always going to go our way, no matter where we are (even in Australia). We need to learn positive ways to deal with disappointment.

Grade level: Grades 1-5

Pre-reading activity: Students will have already read I was So Mad, by Mercer Mayer and they will have completed the word web on frustration during the previous class. Before reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, students will discuss what makes them frustrated and the ways that they can make themselves and others around them feel better when this happens. It is important that during the story students help fill out a story man concept map. This will help them with the post reading activity.

Post-reading activity: After reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, students will use their story man to complete a new day for Alexander. They will take events from Alexander's day, and make them more positive. They will call their new versions: Alexander and the Terrific, Amazing, Super Duper, Very Good Day.