Poet
Study- Judith Viorst
Biography-
Personal
Judith Viorst –( “vee-orst”) was born February 2,
1931. She was married, in 1960, to
Milton Viorst who is also a writer. They now have 3 children; Anthony,
Nicholas, and Alexander. She now has her
home in Washington, D. C..
Career
Poet, journalist, and writer of books for children and adults.
Awards
New Jersey Institute of Technology awards, 1969,
for Sunday Morning, and 1970, for I’ll Fix Anthony; Emmy Award
for writing a comedy, variety, or music program, 1970 for Annie: The Women in the Life of a Man; Best Books
of the Year citation, School Library Journal, 1972, and Georgia Picture Book
Award, 1977, both for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day; Silver Pencil Award, 1973,
for The Tenth Good Thing about Barney;
Penney- Missouri Award, 1974, for article in Redbook; Albert Einstein
College of Medicine Award, 1975; American Academy of Pediatrics Award, 1977,
for article in Redbook; American
Association of University Women Award, 1980, for article in Redbook;
Christopher Award, 1988, for The Good-bye Book.
Sidelights
Judith Viorst has blended wry humor and self
analysis to create entertaining books for children and adults. She is widely known for her humorous books
based on her own family life. Her
writings address both children’s naughtiness and their serious concerns, such
as sibling rivalry, the death of a pet, and a messy little sister. Viorst says, “ Four of the books that I’ve
written for children I consciously sat down and wrote because one child or
another of mine had a problem.” Viorst
knew from the second grade that she wanted to be a writer. Viorst also says,” I
was surely not foolish enough to expect that any book I wrote would solve these
problems, I hoped it might help my boys to laugh at their problems, or look at
them in less troubled, less hopeless ways.”
She loved having people read her work, in hopes
that it would be published. But she had to wait a long time before her first
publication. Her first published book
was- Projects: Space. Her first
collections of poems was The Village
Square.
Viorst identifies herself as a lover of
children’s books. Viorst believes that
“ at their best their language, their art, their seriousness of intent measure up
to any standards of excellence.” “To read Judith Viorst is to know her,”
observed a contributor to Contemporary Popular
Writers,” and to know her is good fun because she writes about things
that touch us where we live, both figuratively and literally… Viorst allows us
to laugh at ourselves.”
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR (BIBLIOGRAPHY)
Juvenile Fiction
·
Sunday Morning, illustrated by Hilary Knight, Harper, 1968.
·
I’ll Fix Anthony, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, Harper, 1969.
·
Try It Again, Sam: Safety
When You Walk, illustrated by Paul
Galdone, Lothrop, 1970.
·
The Tenth good Thing
about Barney, illustrated by Erik
Blegvad, Atheneum, 1971.
·
Alexander and the
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
(also see below), illustrated by Ray Cruz, Atheneum, 1972.
·
My Mama Says There Aren’t
Any Zombies, Ghosts, Vampires, Creatures, Demons, Monsters, Friends, goblins,
or Things, illustrated by Kay chorao,
Atheneum, 1973.
·
Rosie and Michael, illustrated by Lorna Tomei, Atheneum, 1974.
·
Alexander, Who Used To Be
Rich Last Sunday (also see below),
illustrated by Ray Cruz, Atheneum, 1978.
·
I I Were In charge Of The
World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and Their Parents, illustrated by Lynne Cherry, Atheneum, 1981.
·
The Good- bye Book, illustrated by Kay Chorao, Atheneum, 1988.
·
Earrings!, illustrated by Nola Langner Malone, Atheneum, 1990.
·
The Alphabet from Z to A:
With Much Confusion on the Way,
illustrated by Richard Hull, Macmillan, 1994.
·
Alexander, Who’s Not (Do
You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move
(also see below), illustrated by Robin Preiss- Glasser, Simon $ Schuster, 1995.
·
Sad Underwear and Other
Complications: More Poems for Children and Their Parents, illustrated by Richard Hull, Macmillan, 1995.
·
Absolutely Positively
Alexander: The Complete Stories ( includes
Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Alexander, Who
Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, and Alexander, Who’s Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean
It!) Going to Move), illustrated by Ray Cruz and Robin Preiss- Glasser,
Simon & Schuster, 1997.
·
Super- Completely and
Totally the Messiest, illustrated by
Robin Preiss- Glasser, Atheneum, 2000.
Non-Fiction; For Children
·
(Editor, with Shirley Moore)
Wonderful World of Science, illustrated by Don Trawin, Bantam, 1961.
·
Projects: Space, Washington Square Press, 1962.
·
One Hundred and Fifty
Science Experiments, Step- by – Step,
illustrated by Dennis Telesford, Bantam, 1963.
·
The Natural World: A
Guide to North American Wildlife, Bantam,
1965.
·
The Changing Earth, illustrated by Feodor Rimsky, Bantam, 1967.
Other
·
The Village Square (poems), illustrated by Tom Ballenger, Coward, 1965.
·
It’s Hard to Be Hip over
Thirty and Other Tragedies of Married Life (poems),
illustrated by John Alcorn, World, 1968.
·
(With husband, Milton
Viorst)The Washington, DC, Underground Gourmet, Simon & Schuster,
1970.
·
(With Gary Belkin, Peter
Bellwood, Herb Sargent, and Thomas Meehan) Annie: The Women in the Life of a
Man (television special), Columbia Broadcasting System, 1970.
·
People and Other
Aggravations (poems), illustrated by John
Alcorn, World, 1971.
·
Yes, Married: A Saga of
Love and complaint (collected prose
pieces), Saturday Review Press, 1972.
·
How Did I Get to Be
Forty… and Other Atrocities (poems),
illustrated by John Alcorn, Simon & Schuster, 1976.
·
A Visit from St. Nicholas
(to a Liberated household): From the
Original Written in 1823 by Clement Clarke Moore, Simon & Schuster,
1976.
·
Love and Guilt and the
Meaning of Life, Etc., illustrated by
John Alcorn, Simon & Schuster, 1979.
·
Necessary Losses, Simon & Schuster, 1986.
·
When Did I Stop Being
twenty and Other Injustices: Selected Poems from Single to Mid- Life, illustrated by John Alcorn, Simon & Schuster, 1987.
·
Love and Guilt and the
Meaning of Life (musical play; also
produced as Love and Shrimp), music by Shelly Markham, produced at
Pasadena Playhouse, 1989.
·
Forever Fifty and Other
Negotiations (poems), illustrated by John
Alcorn, Simon & Schuster, 1989.
·
Murdering Mr. Monti: A
Merry Little Tale of Sex and Violence (novel),
Simon & Schuster, 1994.
·
Imperfect Control: Our
Lifelong Struggle with Power and Surrender, Simon
& Schuster, 1998.
·
You’re Officially a
Grown- up; The Graduates guide to Freedom, Responsibility, Happiness, Personal
Hygiene, and the conquest of Fear,
illustrated by Robin Preiss- Glasser, Simon & Schuster, 1999.
·
Suddenly Sixty and Other
Shocks of Later Life (poems), illustrated
by Laurie Rosenwald, Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Selected
Poems:
Introduction: Sometimes poems can be written to make you
smile. Some poems are written just for
fun. Enjoy this poem about manners.
Learning
By
Judith Viorst
I’m
learning to say thank you.
And
I’m learning to say please.
And
I’m learning to use Kleenex,
Not
my sweater, when I sneeze.
And
I’m learning not to dribble.
And
I’m learning not to slurp.
And
I’m learning (though it sometimes really hurts me)
Not
to burp.
And
I’m learning to chew softer
When
I eat corn on the cob.
And
I’m learning that it’s much
Much
easier to be a slob.
From
Knock at a Star by X.J. Kennedy
and Dorothy M. Kennedy. Little, Brown
and Company Boston 1999
Extension: Students can share ways to show manners in
public. Also talk about how it is hard
sometimes to do the right thing.
Introduction: Sometimes poetry can be written as an
experience or feeling that you would like to share. In this poem Judith Viorst shares her experience of a haunted
house. 
The
Old Haunted House
By
Judith Viorst
That
old haunted house was so creepy, so crawly, so ghastly,
so ghostly, so gruesome, so skully- and –
bony.
That
old haunted house gave me nightmares and daymares and
shudders and shivers and quivers and
quavers and quakes.
That
old haunted house made my hair stand on end and my
heart pound-pound-pound and the blood in
my veins ice-
cold-freezing.
That
old haunted house gave me goose bumps and throat lumps
and ch-ch-ch-chattering teeth and the
sh-sh-sh-shakes.
That
old haunted house made me shriek, made me eeek, made
me faint, made me scared- to –death
scared, made me all- over
sweat.
Would
I ever go back to that old haunted house?
You
bet.
From Knock at a
Star by X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy. Little, Brown and Company
Boston 1999
Extension: Let students share some of their feeling or
experiences of unusual places that they have been to.
Introduction: This poem talks about when a friend moves away
and your feelings about it. Would be
good to share when someone moves to help express feelings.
Since Hannah Moved
Away
By Judith Viorst
The tires on my bike
are flat.
The sky is grouchy
gray.
At least it sure feels
like that
Since Hannah moved
away.
Chocolate ice cream
tastes like prunes.
December’s come to
stay.
They’ve taken back the
Mays and Junes
Since Hannah moved
away.
Flowers smell like
halibut.
Velvet feels like hay.
Every handsome dog’s
mutt
Since Hannah moved
away.
Nothing’s fun to laugh
about.
Nothing’s fun to play.
They call me, but I won’t
come out
Since Hannah moved
away.
From If
I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries… by Judith Viorst Macmillan
New York 1981
Introduction: Everyone usually worries at some time or
another. This is a poem about things
that you might worry about. Share this
poem to maybe put a “lighter” side to worrying.
Fifteen, Maybe Sixteen
Things to Worry About
By Judith Viorst
My pants could maybe
fall down when I dive off the diving board.
My nose could maybe
keep growing and never quit.
Miss Brearly could ask
me to spell words like stomach and special.
(stumick and speshul?)
I could play tag all
day and always be “it.”
Jay Spievack, who’s
fourteen feet tall, could want to fight me.
My mom and my dad—like
Ted’s – could want a divorce.
Miss Brearly could ask
me a question about Afghanistan.
(Who’s Afghanistan?)
Somebody maybe could
make me ride a horse.
My mother could maybe
decide that I needed more liver.
My dad could decide
that I needed less TV.
Miss Brearly could say
that I have to write script and stop printing.
(I’m better at printing.)
Chris could decide to
stop being friends with me.
The world could maybe
come to an end on next Tuesday.
The ceiling could
maybe come crashing on my head.
I maybe could run out
of things for me to worry about.
And then I’d have to
do my homework instead.
From If I Were in
charge of the World and Other Worries… by Judith Viorst MacMillan
New York 1981
Extension: Let
children share things that they worry about.
Introduction: Judith Viorst writes a lot about
feelings. This poem talks about how you
feel when you’ve been hurt by someone.
Mending
By Judith Viorst
A giant hand inside my
chest
Stretches out and
takes
My heart within its
mighty grasp
And squeezes till it
breaks.
A gentle hand inside
my chest,
With mending tape and
glue,
Patches up my heart
until
It’s almost good as
new.
I ought to know by now
that
Broken hearts will
heal again.
But while I wait for
glue and tape,
The pain!
The pain!
The pain!
From If I Were in Charge of the World and
other Worries by Judith
Viorst MacMillan New York 1981
Extension: Talk about how you feel when you’ve had your
feelings hurt. What do you do when
you’ve had your feelings hurt?
Bibliography for Poet
Study
Website- http://www.twu.edu/libray (Literature Resource Center)
Website- http://www.poets.org
If I Were in Charge
of the World and other Worries by Judith
Viorst MacMillan New York
1981
Knock at a Star by X. J. Kennedy and Dorothy M. Kennedy Little, Brown, and Company Boston
1999