Nationality American Role Writer Name Judith Viorst | ||
![]() | ||
Born February 2, 1931 (age 93) New Jersey ( 1931-02-02 ) Notable works Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad DayThe Tenth Good Thing About Barney Movies Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Children Alexander Noah Viorst, Anthony Jacob Viorst, Nicholas Nathan "Nick" Viorst Books Alexander and the Terrible, Alexander - who used to be rich, Lulu and the Brontosaurus, Necessary Losses, The Tenth Good Thing Ab Similar People Miguel Arteta, Milton Viorst, Steve Carell, Herb Sargent, Thomas Meehan | ||
Notable awards 2011 Foremother Award |
Judith viorst 2014 national book festival
Judith Viorst (born February 2, 1931) is an American writer, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher. She is 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 picture books, which includes Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), which has sold over two million copies.
Contents
- Judith viorst 2014 national book festival
- Judith viorst commencement address
- Personal life
- Writing for children
- Writing for adults
- Selected works
- For children
- Poems for Children and Their Parents
- Alexander
- Lulu
- For adults
- Age related poetry series
- Dramatic adaptations
- References

Viorst is a 1952 graduate of the Newark College of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1968, Viorst signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. In the latter part of the 1970s, after two decades of writing for children and adults, she turned to the study of Freudian psychology. In 1981, she became a research graduate at Washington Psychoanalytic Institute after six years of study.

Judith viorst commencement address
Personal life
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Viorst was raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, and attended Columbia High School. A graduate of the class of 1948, Viorst was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1990.
She currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, political writer Milton Viorst. They have three grown sons: Anthony Jacob Viorst, an attorney practicing in the Denver, Colorado, area; Nicholas Nathan "Nick" Viorst, an Assistant District Attorney for New York County, and Alexander Noah Viorst, who finances affordable apartment properties around the country.
She received the 2011 Foremother Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Research Center for Women & Families.
Writing for children
Among Viorst's books for children is the "Alexander" series (including Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day), whose narrator is a 5-year-old boy who lives with his parents and two brothers, Anthony and Nick, who are named for Viorst's own three sons.
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.
Writing for adults
Viorst's books for adults include nonfiction psychology books such as Grown-up Marriage, Imperfect Control, Necessary Losses, and People and other Aggravations. Viorst is also a newspaper columnist and has written frequently for The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has been a contributing editor to Redbook magazine.
She also penned the musical Love & Shrimp with Shelly Markam. The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati hosted a performance of Love & Shrimp, starring Deb Girdler, Pamela Myers and Shelley Bamberger, in the spring of 1999.
Selected works
For children
Poems for Children and Their Parents
Alexander
Omnibus edition: Absolutely, Positively Alexander: The Complete Stories