Judith Viorst

Lulu's parents refuse when she demands a pet brontosaurus for her birthday and so she sets out to find one on her own, but the brontosaurus she finally meets in the forest has no intention of becoming a pet. 75,000 first printing.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus

From grief and mourning to aging and relationships, poet and Redbook contributor Judith Viorst presents a thoughtful and researched study in this examination of love, loss, and letting go. Drawing on psychoanalysis, literature, and personal experience, Necessary Losses is a philosophy for understanding and accepting life’s inevitabilities. In Necessary Losses, Judith Viorst turns her considerable talents to a serious and far-reaching subject: how we grow and change through the losses that are a certain and necessary part of life. She argues 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 perspective, true maturity, and fuller wisdom about life. She has written a book that is both life affirming and life changing.

The Loves Illusions Dependencies and Impossible Expectations That All of us Have

Necessary Losses

Lane Smith

Lulu needs help from a boy named Fleischman if she is to earn money walking her neighbors' dogs, and she finds out that if she wants her business venture to succeed, she has to be nice.

Lulu Walks the Dogs

Although Alexander and his money are quickly parted, he comes to realize all the things that can be done with a dollar.

Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday

De maneira clara e direta, a autora mostra que as perdas na vida são um tema universal e nos ensinam a alcançar a maturidade e o equilíbrio psicológico, desde que saibamos enfrentá-las sem deixar abater.

Perdas necessárias

The newest illustrated poetry collection in beloved author Judith Viorst’s “decade” series (from It’s Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty to Unexpectedly Eighty), exploring, with her signature savvy and humor, what it means to be an impending nonagenarian. In Nearing Ninety, bestselling author Judith Viorst candidly shares the complicated joys and everyday tribulations that await us at the age of ninety, all with a large dose of humor and an understanding that nothing—well, almost nothing—in life should be taken too seriously. While she struggles to make it to midnight on New Year's Eve, while she’s starting to hear more eulogies than symphonies, while she’ll forever be disheartened by what she weighs (and forever unable to stop weighing herself), there is plenty to cherish at ninety: hanging out with the people she loves. Playing a relentless game of Scrabble. And still sleeping tush-to-tush with the same man to whom she’s been married for sixty years. Accompanied by Laura Gibson’s whimsical illustrations, Nearing Ninety’s amusing and touching reflections make this collection relatable to readers of all ages. With the wisdom and spunk of someone who’s seen it all, Viorst gently reminds us that everybody gets old, and that the best medicine at any age is laughter.

And Other Comedies of Late Life

Nearing Ninety

Lulu is getting the sister she never asked for in this hilarious illustrated chapter book filled with hilarious hijinks and fiesty twists from Judith Viorst. Lulu has received the worst. News. EVER. She’s getting…a baby sister. No one ever asked HER opinion on this debacle. But she’ll tell you anyway, because she no how, no way, no thank you wants a sibling. Undeterred, and to prepare Lulu for big sisterhood, her parents bribe—AHEM, ask—Lulu to attend Camp Sisterhood, a.k.a. big sister training camp. As a Sister-in-Training (SIT), Lulu is assigned a variety of temporary little “siblings” who are supposed to be so much fun Lulu will become excited to have a permanent sibling of her own. Well, no one ever said Camp Sisterhood was supposed to teach Lulu how to be a good big sister, so Lulu resolves to be a bad big sister. She insults her little siblings. She taunts them with secrets. She even tricks one of them into carrying both of their backpacks up a mountain! But no matter what Lulu does, she can’t shake the little terrors. Then some BITs (brothers-in-training) from the neighboring Camp Brotherhood start picking on Lulu’s siblings, and Lulu responds by doing her red-faced, steam-coming-out-of-her-ears thing and showing those BITs who’s boss! After all, Lulu’s siblings may be duds, but they’re her duds, and sisters have to stick together. Besides, in the end, Lulu figures that having a little sister probably won’t be as bad as a getting a tooth pulled. Probably.

(Who WANTS Her? Who NEEDS Her?)

Lulu Is Getting a Sister

Presents all three classic stories about Alexander, the youngster who is representative of everyone's little brother--struggling day by day against the unfair things in life and matching wits with his siblings--in a single volume.

Absolutely, Positively Alexander

"[A] collection of poems that explores the peeves and pleasures of a long marriage...and what lies beyond. Judith Viorst began publishing poetry in the 1960s in New York magazine, and since then, her works have celebrated life's milestones with wit and poignancy. Married for fifty-five years, she now casts a rueful, experienced eye on the amusing annoyances and deep satisfactions of a long marriage...and what a couple must inevitably confront together" --

And Other Poems About the Irritations and Consolations of a Long Marriage

Wait for Me

When Lulu's parents go on vacation, the formidable Ms. Sonia Sofia Solinsky comes to babysit and Lulu behaves as badly as possible to get her to leave until Ms. Solinsky reveals her secret.

Lulu's Mysterious Mission

The classic New York Times bestseller about the many forms of loss we experience throughout our lives, and the necessity of letting go. In Necessary Losses, Judith Viorst turns her considerable talents to a serious and far-reaching subject: how we grow and change through the losses that are a certain and necessary part of life. She argues 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 perspective, true maturity, and fuller wisdom about life. She has written a book that is both life-affirming and life-changing. Drawing on psychoanalysis, literature, and personal experience, Necessary Losses is a philosophy for understanding and accepting a universal human experience. “One of the most sensitive and comprehensive books about the human condition I have read in a long time.” —Harold S. Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People “Viorst has synthesized a vast amount of research into a very readable and generous whole.” —The New York Times Book Review

The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow

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.

Our Lifelong Struggles With Power and Surrender

Imperfect Control

Two boys create a lot of havoc while waiting for their parents to get up on Sunday morning.

A Story

Sunday Morning

After more than forty years, still the worst day ever! Now a major film starring Steve Carrell, Jennifer Garner and Bella Thorne. Read the inspiration behind the new major film starring Steve Carrell, Jennifer Garner and Bella Thorne. He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day... He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair... When he got out of bed, he tripped over his skateboard and by mistake dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running... What do you do on a day like that? Well, you may think about going to Australia. You may also be glad to find that some days are like that for other people too. This funny and endearing story has delighted readers for more than forty years and is the inspiration behind the upcoming film, starring Jennifer Garner and Steve Carrell.

Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Robin Preiss Glasser

Determined to be as perfect and neat as her older sister Olivia, Sophie tries to be tidy, but the more she tries the messier she becomes while her sister watches in exasperation, in a delightful book that keeps readers amused as they follow Sophie's funny and appealing antics. Reprint.

Super-completely and Totally the Messiest

The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies and Impossible Expectations that All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow

Alexander tries his hand at behaving in this hilarious companion to the bestselling classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Last night somebody ate a whole box of jelly donuts. That somebody woke up with a terrible bellyache, and that somebody’s mom found the empty box and told that somebody that there are going to be consequences. That somebody is Alexander, and Alexander really hates consequences. So from now on, he is going to try his best to be the Best Boy Ever. For the complete and entire rest of his life. Starting right this very minute. But there are all sorts of things that you can’t do when you’re being the Best Boy Ever. Fun things. Very important things. Things that Alexander might—just might—like a little bit more than he hates consequences.

Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever

Forty-one poems reveal a variety of secret thoughts, worries, and wishes.

Poems for Children and Their Parents

If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries

Bringing together some of the best of Judith Viorst’s witty and perceptive poetry—and featuirng the illustrations from the original edition by John Alcorn—Viorst explores the all-too-true ironies and absurdities of being a woman in the modern world. Whether she’s finding herself or finding a sitter, contemplating her sex life as she rubs hormone night cream on her face, or wrestling with the contradiction of falling in love with a man her parents would actually approve of, Viorst transforms the familiar events of daily life into poems that make you laugh with recognition. Here is the young single girl leaving her parents’ home for life in the big city (“No I do not believe in free love/And yes I will be home for Sunday dinners”). Here is the aspiring bohemian with an expensive liberal arts education, getting coffee and taking dictation, “Hoping that someday someone will be impressed/With all I know.” Here is that married woman, coping with motherhood (“The tricycles are cluttering my foyer/The Pop Tart crumbs are sprinkled on my soul”) and fantasy affairs (“I could imagine cryptic conversations, clandestine martinis...and me explaining that long kisses clog my sinuses”) and all-too-real family reunions (“Four aunts in pain taking pills/One cousin in analysis taking notes”). And here she is at mid-life, wondering whether a woman who used to wear a “Ban the Bomb” button can find happiness being a person with a set of fondue forks, a fish poacher, and a wok. Every step of the way, It’s Hard to be Hip Over Thirty and Other Tragedies of Married Life demonstrates once and for all that no one understands American women coming of age like Judith Viorst. *It’s Hard to be Hip Over Thirty and Other Tragedies of Married Life is a reissue of the previous collection originally titled When Did I Stop Being Twenty and Other Injustices.

Judith Viorst

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