Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move
Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move by Judith Viorst takes about 10.5 minutes to read aloud (1,152 words, about 3 sentences a page), and it lands best with children aged 4-6.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 10.5 minutes
- Words
- 1,152
- Sentences a page
- 3
- Re-read tolerance
- 3/5holds up
- Vocabulary
- 3/5a few new words
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The useful verdict
Why Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move works
Alexander announces he will live in the tree, or the sock drawer, or with the neighbours, and the refusal runs the whole book - children shout the title line with him. He goes in the end and is still cross about it, which is the honest ending and the reason it lands.
Before you buy it
Over ten minutes, and most of the humour is Alexander's sarcasm, which under-fours miss entirely.
Themes: moving, refusal, humour, family.
Same shape, new story
Books like Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move
- How long does it take to read Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move aloud?
- About 10.5 minutes at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 1,152. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move actually for?
- Ages 4-6 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 3 sentences a page and vocabulary at 3 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move survive being read on repeat?
- Yes, reasonably. It stays bearable through the repeat-request phase without becoming a favourite forever.
- Is Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it has a refrain a child can join in with. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.
- Will my child memorise Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move?
- Probably, and fast. The book leans on a repeated refrain, and at 3 out of 5 for re-read tolerance it survives the nightly repeats that get a book memorised. Expect your child to chant the pattern back before they can actually read.
- Can a beginning reader read Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move on their own?
- Not yet. At vocabulary level 3 out of 5 and 3 sentences a page, it is a read-aloud book rather than a first solo read. Read it to them now, and hand it over in a year or two.
- What themes does Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move cover?
- We tag it with moving, refusal, humour and family. Those are the threads that actually run through the book, not just the ones on the cover, which is how it earns its place on our themed lists rather than a keyword match.