I’m looking for the title of a children’s picture book suitable for maybe grades 1-2 from late 1970’s or early-mid1980’s. I can’t remember barely anything except an illustration of a checkerboard floor and spilled peas, another page with a character with black hair and red shoes. I think the theme was how to cope with a very bad day or getting along with your sibling. I remember it as big, like 12″x 8″, maybe 15 pages. It’s absurd to ask given so little information but i can’t stop thinking about it!
Could it be Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst?
The publishing date is wrong from what I saw – much too recent – but the book Why Me by Nicola Killen has drawings that match your description. Maybe there was an earlier edition that I missed? Might be worth checking out.
I was thinking Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day as well–it’s by Judith Viorst