Judith Viorst Books In Order

Lulu Books In Order

  1. Lulu And The Brontosaurus (2010)
  2. Lulu Walks the Dogs (2012)
  3. Lulu’s Mysterious Mission (2014)
  4. Lulu Is Getting a Sister (2018)

Novels

  1. Murdering Mr. Monti (2016)

Collections

  1. Absolutely, Positively Alexander (1997)

Picture Books

  1. I’ll Fix Anthony (1987)
  2. Alphabet from Z to A (1997)
  3. Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday (1998)
  4. Alexander, Who’s Not (1998)
  5. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1999)
  6. Super-completely and Totally the Messiest! (2001)
  7. Just in Case (2006)
  8. Nobody Here But Me (2008)
  9. Earrings! (2009)
  10. Alexander, Who’s Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever (2014)
  11. And Two Boys Booed (2014)

Non fiction

  1. You’re Officially a Grown-up (1999)
  2. It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty (1999)
  3. Suddenly Sixty And Other Shocks Of Later Life (2000)
  4. Grown-up Marriage (2002)
  5. I’m Too Young To Be Seventy (2005)
  6. Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days (2007)
  7. Necessary Losses (2010)
  8. Unexpectedly Eighty (2010)
  9. How Did I Get to Be 40 & Other Atrocities (2012)
  10. Forever Fifty and Other Negotiations (2014)
  11. Imperfect Control (2014)
  12. What are You Glad About? What are You Mad About? (2016)
  13. The Perfect Gift for You (2016)

Lulu Book Covers

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Picture Books Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Judith Viorst Books Overview

Lulu And The Brontosaurus

It’s Lulu’s birthday and she’s decided she’d like a pet brontosaurus as a present. When Lulu’s parents tell her that’s not possible, Lulu gets very upset. She does not like it when things don’t go her way. So she takes matters into her own hands and storms off into the forest to find herself a new pet, all the way singing: I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, gonna, get a bronto bronto bronto bronto saurus for a pet! In the forest Lulu encounters a number of animals; a snake, a tiger, a bear, all of whom don’t particularly impress her. And then she finds him…
a beautiful, long necked, gentle, graceful brontosaurus. And he completely agrees with Lulu that having a pet would be a wonderful thing, indeed! Lulu thinks she’s gotten her birthday wish at last. Until she realizes that Mr. Brontosaurus thinks that she would make an ideal pet for him! How will Lulu ever get out of this sticky situation without throwing a fit Mr. B does not respond well to those, or using force Mr. B is much to tall to bonk on the head with her suitcase, or smushing her pickle sandwich?

Murdering Mr. Monti

‘HIGHLY ENTERTAINING…
SIT BACK IN THE BUBBLES AND ENJOY.’ The Philadelphia InquirerBrenda Kovner, a Washington columnist, advice dispenser, and amateur psychologist, doesn’t consider herself intrusive, just extremely interested in helping. If she knows the answer, she can’t shut up even if no one’s listening. Since Brenda knows what’s best for everyone she secretly decides she must murder her son Wally’s prospective father in law, before he can get to Wally. She has a foolproof plan. In fact, she has a million of them. But first she’s got a few kinky desires of her own to satisfy .’Viorst keeps us laughing…
.A serious look at family and cultural issues while still a farce, narrated by a needling Machiavellian who keeps winning us over.’ San Francisco Chronicle’A wry look at the follies of superficial urbanites…
Enjoy.’ The Washington Post Book World’Acerbic and extremely funny…
Done with the arch, sardonic flavor familiar to readers of Ms. Viorst.’ The Baltimore Sun

Absolutely, Positively Alexander

First published in 1972, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day introduced to the world a feisty young hero who soon captured the hearts of a generation. Since then Alexander has returned in Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday and Alexander, Who’s Not Do you hear me? I mean it! Going to move, and his position as a classic character in children’s literature is assured. Alexander is everyone’s favorite boy, struggling against those obstacles that seem to get in the way of growing up, with the most formidable ones being his siblings. Here, all three Alexander stories are combined in one book a perfect way for Alexander to be introduced to a whole new generation of certain fans.

I’ll Fix Anthony

Mother says deep down in his heart. Anthony loves me. Anthony says deep down in his heart he thinks I stink.

Anthony’s younger brother puts up with a lot. Every time he wants to play with Anthony and his friends, or even go into the playroom, Anthony starts to clobber him. There’s nothing he can do now…
but just wait until he’s six!

Judith Viorst’s fine, funny story, now available in a handsome new edition, will charm readers of all ages.

Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday

Anthony has two dollars and three quarters and one dime and seven nickels and eighteen pennies. Nicholas has one dollar and two quarters and five dimes and five nickels and thirteen pennies. Alexander has…
bus tokens. And even when he’s rich, pretty soon all he has is bus tokens. He was rich. Last Sunday. Grandma Betty and Grandpa Louie came and gave Anthony and Nicholas and Alexander each a dollar. Alexander was saving his. Maybe for a walkie talkie. And then there was bubble gum, some bets with Anthony and Nicholas that Alexander lost, a snake rental, a garage sale, and all kinds of other things to spend money on. And now all he has is bus tokens. When he used to be rich last Sunday.

Alexander, Who’s Not

When Alexander feels mad or dad he wants to move to Australia. But most of the time he likes it right where he is. So when his mom and dad say that they’re moving a thousand miles away, Alexander decides that he’s not going. Never, Not ever. No way. Uh uh. N.O. For how can he leave his best friend or his favorite sitter or Seymour the cleaners? he’d rather stay and live in a tree house or cave. And even though Nick calls him puke face and Anthony says he’s immature, he’s not Do you hear me? I mean it! going to move.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Poor Alexander! He woke up with gum in his hair; his mom forgot to put dessert in his lunch bag; there were lima beans for dinner, and kissing on TV even the cat refuses to sleep in his bed. Some days are just like that. Alexander’s awful day is the perfect lead off for this collection of funny, touching stories about the ups and downs of childhood from imaginary monsters to saying goodbye to a family pet. Judith Viorst’s insightful and humorous stories are the perfect antidote to any child’s ‘terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.’ Audio Contains: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Rosie and Michael Mama Says There Ain’t Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Fiends, Goblins, or Things The Tenth Good Thing About Barney If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries

Super-completely and Totally the Messiest!

Now in paperback for the first time, the story of Charlie, a kid who knows how to be ready for any situation . Just in Case . If a downpour turns into a flash flood or the grocery store should close indefinitely, Charlie knows exactly what he ll do. But as Charlie is about to discover, sometimes not being ready is even better than being prepared for everything. She wants them. She needs them. She loves them. Earrings! What won t a girl do to finally get her ears pierced? Find out in this delightful tale that perfectly captures the yearnings of a young girl in desperate need of beautiful, glorious earrings! According to Olivia who is practically perfect her younger sister Sophie isn t very neat. But she’s not just messy, either . She s Super Completely and Totally the Messiest! Olivia s family tries to show her that Sophie is plenty of things besides a slob, but Olivia is unconvinced. Pictures from Robin Preiss Glasser, illustrator of Fancy Nancy, make this book super completely and totally fun!

Just in Case

Charlie is a boy who is always ready for anything…
Just in Case. What if it’s raining very hard so hard that rain could come into the house and make the furniture float? Charlie has a plan to keep himself dry…
Just in Case. What if his parents are going out and he gets a babysitter who won’t read to him or let him watch TV? Charlie has a plan for making his own fun…
Just in Case. Charlie likes to be ready for anything. But as Charlie is about to find out, sometimes not being ready is even better.

Nobody Here But Me

It’s a little after four o clock, and everyone s busy. Mom s on the phone, Dad s checking e mail, and Katie s playing games with a friend. But there s one other person in the house, and no matter what he does from painting a blue heart on the wall to turning the kitchen into a catastrophe that s a really big mess none of his distracted family members come to stop him. What does a person have to do to get noticed around here?

This laugh out loud story by best selling author Judith Viorst, accompanied by Christine Davenier s charming illustrations, perfectly captures how lonely it can feel even when the house is full of people and just what it takes to get some attention.

Earrings!

Now in paperback for the first time, the story of Charlie, a kid who knows how to be ready for any situation . Just in Case . If a downpour turns into a flash flood or the grocery store should close indefinitely, Charlie knows exactly what he ll do. But as Charlie is about to discover, sometimes not being ready is even better than being prepared for everything. She wants them. She needs them. She loves them. Earrings! What won t a girl do to finally get her ears pierced? Find out in this delightful tale that perfectly captures the yearnings of a young girl in desperate need of beautiful, glorious Earrings! According to Olivia who is practically perfect her younger sister Sophie isn t very neat. But she’s not just messy, either . She s Super Completely and Totally the Messiest! Olivia s family tries to show her that Sophie is plenty of things besides a slob, but Olivia is unconvinced. Pictures from Robin Preiss Glasser, illustrator of Fancy Nancy, make this book super completely and totally fun!

You’re Officially a Grown-up

The perfect graduation gift: a wry look at the pleasures and anxieties of leaving home, penned with Judith Viorst’s trademark blend of insight and humor. Millions of young people grew up with Viorst’s bestselling children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Now they can take her tongue in cheek advice for the next stage in their lives. Warm, funny, compassionate, and reassuring, You’re Officially a Grown Up describes in verse and illustrations all those terrifying but eagerly anticipated freedoms that go hand in hand with venturing out on your own and trying to make your way in the world. Ranging from the quandaries of giving up room, board, and the keys to the Ford to the thrills of playing by your own rules, Viorst will touch a nostalgic chord in those ‘official’ grown ups who have loved her other books about life’s milestones. This special keepsake written from a loving parent’s perspective is just the ticket high school and college graduates need for a one way passage to adulthood.

It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty

The honeymoon is overAnd he has left for workWhistling something obvious from La BohemeAnd carrying a brown calfskin attache caseI never dreamed he was capable of owning,Having started the dayWith ten pushups and a cold showerFollowed by a hearty breakfast. What do we actually have in common?The honeymoon is overAnd I am dry mopping the floorIn a green Dacron dry mopping outfit from Saks,Wondering why I’m not dancing in the dark,Or rejecting princes,Or hearing people gasp at my one man show,My god, so beautiful and so gifted!The trouble is I never knew a prince.

Suddenly Sixty And Other Shocks Of Later Life

From the bestselling author of Forever Fifty comes a new collection of poems that tickle, console, and offer the pleasure of instant recognition the perfect book for any woman anywhere in the vicinity of sixty. Judith Viorst’s ‘decade’ books of verse including It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty, How Did I Get to Be Forty, and Forever Fifty have delighted millions of readers worldwide who relish her wit, warmth, and wisdom. Now here she is with Suddenly Sixty, a funny and touching book that speaks directly to the sixty ish woman, inviting her to laugh about, sigh over, and come to hopeful terms with the complex issues of this decade of life. Among the poems in this charmingly illustrated collection are those exploring the joys and strains of children and grandchildren, and the intimacy of old friends who’ve ‘known each other so long/We knew each other back when we were virgins.’ There are poems that tip their hat to mortality, wrestle with a husband’s retirement ‘He’s coming with me when I shop at the supermarket/So I won’t have to shop alone. I like alone.’ and acknowledge the fact that at this stage of life we’d ‘give up a night of wild rapture with Denzel Washington for a nice report on my next bone density test.’ Offering plenty of laughs, a few tears, and cover to cover truths, these are poems for everyone who would ‘rather say never say die than enough is enough.’ Every woman who has reached this decade will rueful and smiling find herself in the pages of this book.

Grown-up Marriage

Although marriage is for grown ups, very few of us are grown up when we marry. Here, the bestselling author of Suddenly Sixty and Necessary Losses presents her life affirming perspective on the joys, heartaches, difficulties, and possibilities of a grown up marriage and no, that’s not an oxymoron!

Featuring interviews with married women and men, the findings of couples therapists, the truths offered by literature and movies, and a bemused exploration of her own marriage, Judith Viorst illuminates the issues couples struggle with from ‘I do’ through ’till death do us part.’ Examining marital rivalry, marital manners, marital sex extramarital, too, marital fighting and apologies, what kids do for and to marriage, and the boredom and bliss of everyday married life, Viorst leaves no marital stone unturned. From the early years when we wonder ‘Who is this person?’ and ‘What am I doing here?’ to the realities of divorce, remarriage, and growing older and old together, Viorst offers insights and advice with honesty, humanity, and humor all the while recognizing how tough it is to be married and, when it works, how very precious it can be.

I’m Too Young To Be Seventy

The beloved bestselling author of Forever Fifty and Suddenly Sixty now tackles the ins and outs of becoming a septuagenarian with her usual wry good humor.

Fans of Judith Viorst’s funny, touching, and wise poems about turning thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty will love this new volume for the woman who deeply believes she is too young to be seventy, ‘too young in my heart and my soul, if not in my thighs.’

Viorst explores, among the many other issues of this stage of life, the state of our sex lives and teeth, how we can stay married though thermostatically incompatible, and the joys of grandparenthood and shopping. Readers will nod with rueful recognition when she asks, ‘Am I required to think of myself as a basically shallow woman because I feel better when my hair looks good?,’ when she presses a few helpful suggestions on her kids because ‘they may be middle aged, but they’re still my children,’ and when she graciously but not too graciously selects her husband’s next mate in a poem deliciously subtitled ‘If I Should Die Before I Wake, Here’s the Wife You Next Should Take.’ Though Viorst acknowledges she is definitely not a good sport about the fact that she is mortal, her poems are full of the pleasures of life right now, helping us come to terms with the passage of time, encouraging us to keep trying to fix the world, and inviting us to consider ‘drinking wine, making love, laughing hard, caring hard, and learning a new trick or two as part of our job description at seventy.’

I’m Too Young To Be Seventy is a joy to read and makes a heartwarming gift for anyone who has reached or is soon to reach that it’s not so bad after all seventh decade.

Alexander and the Wonderful, Marvelous, Excellent, Terrific Ninety Days

Whatever became of Alexander after that famously bad day? And did you know that Judith Viorst is his mother? And what happens to her passion for household neatness and orderliness, her deep devotion to schedules, her compulsive yearning to offer helpful advice when Alexander now grown up, married, and the father of three moves his family into his parents’ house? What happens is controlled, and sometimes not so controlled, chaos, as lives and routines are turned upside down and the house is overrun with scattered toys, pacifiers, baby bottles, sippy cups, pink sequined flip flops, jigsaw puzzles, and fishy crackers. With her characteristic sparkle and wit, Viorst relates her efforts to graciously share space, to become if only a little bit more flexible, to sort of keep her opinions to herself, and even to eventually figure out how to unlock the safety locks of the baby’s expletives deleted bouncy seat. She describes how she and her husband, while sometimes longing for the former peace and tranquillity of unravished rooms and quiet dinners for two unaccompanied by cries of ‘Oh, yuck!’ survived and relished the extended visit of the Alexander Five. She also opens our eyes to the joys of multigenerational family living and to the unexpected opportunities to grow that life presents even under the most unlikely circumstances. Several generations of readers surely will relate to this funny and loving book, enhanced throughout by Laura Gibson’s delightful two color drawings.

Necessary Losses

‘This perceptive book should absorb and enrich anyone who admits to being human.’Benjamin Spock, M.D. Essayist Judith Viorst, who has humorously eased our journey to middle age, now turns her considerable talents to a more serious and far reaching subject: how we grow and change through the losses that are an inevitable and necessary part of life. Arguing persuasively that through the loss of our mothers’ protection, the loss of the impossible expectations we bring to relationships, the loss of our younger selves, and the loss of our loved ones through separation and death, we gain deeper persepctive, true maturity, and fuller wisdom about life, Judith Viorst has wirtten a life affirming and life changing book.

Unexpectedly Eighty

What does it mean to be eighty? In her wise and playful poems, Judith Viorst discusses marriage, friendship, grand parenthood, and all the particular marvels and otherwise of this extraordinary decade. She describes the wonder of seeing the world with new eyes not because of revelation but because of a successful cataract operation. She promises not to gently fade away, and not to drive after daylight’s faded away either. She explains how she s gotten to be a ‘three desserts’ grandmother ‘Just don t tell your mom!’, shares how memory failure can keep you married, and enumerates her hopes for the afterlife which she doesn t believe in, but if it does exist, her sister in law better not be there with her. As Viorst gleefully attests, eighty is not too old to dream, to flirt, to drink, and to dance. It s also not too late to give up being cheap or to take up with a younger man of seventy eight. Zesty, hopeful, and full of the pleasures of living, Viorst s poems speak to her legions of readers, who recognize themselves in her knowing observations, in her touching reflections, and in her joyful affirmations. Funny, moving, inspirational, and true the newest in Judith Viorst s beloved ‘decades’ series extols the virtues, victories, frustrations, and joys of life.

Forever Fifty and Other Negotiations

Her bestselling verse has unerringly captured our follies and our foibles over the decades. Now Judith Viorst, in a witty and beautifuUy illustrated book of poems, looks at what it’s like to be gulp fifty.

Judith Viorst’s poetry collections, which include When Did I Stop Being Twenty…
, It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty…
,
and How Did I Get to Be Forty…
,
have articulated our growing pains from single life to midlife, and have continued to delight millions of readers worldwide. Writing with the warmth and authenticity that have become her trademarks, Viorst once again demonstrates her uncanny ability to transform our daily realities into poems that make us laugh with recognition. Whether her subject is the decline of the body ‘It’s hard to be devil may care/When there are pleats in your derri re’ or future aspirations ‘Before I go, I’d like to have high cheekbones./I’d like to talk less like New Jersey, and more like Claire Bloom’, she always speaks directly to our condition. Her funny, compassionate poems shed a reassuring light on the fine art of aging, and will delight anyone who is now or forever fifty.

Imperfect Control

In her remarkable national bestseller, Necessary Losses, Judith Viorst explored how we are shaped by the various losses we experience throughout our lives. Now, in her wise and perceptive new book, Imperfect Control, she shows us how our sense of self and all our important relationships are colored by our struggles over control: over wanting it and taking it, loving it and fearing it, and figuring out when the time has come to surrender it.

Writing with compassion, acute psychological insight, and a touch of her trademark humor, Viorst invites us to contemplate the limits and possibilities of our control. She shows us how our lives can be shaped by our actions and our choices. She reminds us, too, that we sometimes should choose to let go. And she encourages us to find our own best balance between power and surrender.

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