Judith Viorst Biography | Poet

Judith Viorst (born February 2, 1931) is an American author, perhaps best known for her children's literature, such as The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (about the death of a pet), and the Alexander series of short books, which include

• Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
• Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday
• Alexander, Who Is Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move
• When I Am Six
• I'll Fix Anthony

Alexander, the narrator in these books, is a 5-year-old boy who lives with his parents and two brothers, Anthony and Nick. The books are based on Viorst's own son, Alexander

Viorst's book "Sad Underwear" is a collection of poems that examines a wide variety of feelings and experiences from a child's point of view.

Viorst's books for adults include nonfiction psychology books such as "Grown-up Marriage", Imperfect Control and Necessary Losses. Viorst is also a newspaper columnist.

Viorst lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, political writer Milton. They have three grown sons named Anthony, Nick and Alexander.

Interesting Facts - Judith Viorst's son, Anthony, practices law in the Denver, CO area. The characters in "Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day" are patterned after Viorst's three children.