Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Bread and Jam for Frances

Bread and Jam for Frances. Russell Hoban. Illustrated by Lillian Hoban. 1964/1992. HarperCollins. 32 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: It was breakfast time, and everyone was at the table. Father was eating his egg. Mother was eating her egg. Gloria was sitting in a high chair and eating her egg too. Frances was eating bread and jam.

Premise/plot: Is Frances an adventurous eater or a picky one?!

My thoughts: Frances just LOVES, LOVES, LOVES bread and jam. She wants to eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack. She doesn't want to try new foods. She doesn't want to eat anything BUT bread and jam. Other people in her life--like her good friend, Albert, may have more interesting lunches, but is anything as good as her favorite comfort food?! Will Frances, the badger, ever tire of bread and jam?! Read and see in one of my favorite, favorite picture books! Frances makes up so many lovely songs in this one! And readers get to meet Albert--I've always liked Albert very much!

Here's one of the songs she makes up in the book. I'll also give a little context:
"What a lovely egg!" said Father.
"If there is one thing I am fond of for breakfast, it is a soft-boiled egg."
"Yes," said Mother, spooning up egg for the baby, "it is just the thing to start the day off right."
"Ah!" said Gloria, and ate up her egg.
Frances did not eat her egg. She sang a little song to it. She sang the song very softly:
I do not like the way you slide,
I do not like your soft inside,
I do not like you lots of ways,
And could do for many days
Without eggs.
Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10
© 2016 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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