Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday: 07/22/12

I read the first of Judith Viorst's Alexander books to my son when he was an infant. He went on to discover other books in the series. His most recent discovery is Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday.

The book opens with Alexander lamenting the fact that he has no money. As the story unwinds, he explains why he has no money. Since last Sunday he has spent his money on all sorts of frivolous things.

As the book was written in the late 1970s, the amount of money has on Sunday is quite small. Children today might be surprised by how little Alexander has. The specific prices mentioned make the book feel more dated than Alexander and the Terrible No Good, Very Bad Day.

It's still though a good starting point for discussing money and the different sorts of coins and bills there are. Since Alexander was given a dollar on Sunday, children can also be asked to keep track of how Alexander spends his money to practice subtraction.

Three stars

Comments (4)

Comment #1: Tuesday, July, 3, 2012 at 05:09:57

Laina

I've read this a couple times in my Storytimes. For my Cow theme and for my Cookie theme and the kids loved it both times. They like to say "But the cow loves cookies" with me and LOVED the duck/quackers joke. Definitely a good one :D

Comment #2:

Pussreboots

It's such a cute book. I'm not surprised that it's a success at storytime.

Comment #3: Friday, August 03, 2012 at 19:57:07

Earl

I enjoy Judith Viorst's books — if only for their long titles! But, I also find all of Alexander's adventures quite amusing.

Comment #4: Sunday, August 05, 2012 at 22:26:59

Pussreboots

The long titles are whoppers.