A Birthday for Frances [Paperback]

Russell hoban (Author), Lillian (illustrator) Hoban (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Scholastic (1973)
• ASIN: B0019LOKRS
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frances is fabulous, January 25, 1999

By 

Tyra Murray "Homeschooling Catholic Mom" (McMinnville, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Birthday for Frances (Hardcover)

"A rainbow and a happy tree are not for Alice or for me. I will draw three-legged cats and caterpillars with ugly hats." Frances deals with birthday envy and how to be generous when her little sister's birthday rolls around. Another bright and endearing tale about a lovable little badger. She's a model for all of us who aspire to write children's stories. And kids love her too. This is one of my two-year-old's favorite stories.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Frances!, May 12, 2006

By 

Emily K. Paster "A mom and lover of children'... (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Birthday for Frances (Paperback)

This is my daughter's favorite Frances book. It has some great Frances moments, such as the "spelling" of various words, the "riding" of her broom, Champ, and Frances's and Albert's discourse of the uselessness of younger sisters. It also captures with such truth the complicated feelings siblings have for one another, such as the moment where Frances announces that she is not getting her sister Gloria a birthday present and then dissolves into tears because she is the only one not getting Gloria a present. As always, Mother and Father Badger are gentle and wise in their handling of their imaginative and precocious offspring. It is no surprise that children have been continuously reading these books since they were published. As an aside, the portrayal of the simple, homemade birthday party is very refreshing in these days of elaborate, over-the-top children's parties.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully whimsical read, hilarious sub-text, great for kids, February 16, 2007

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Birthday for Frances (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful story, I love Hoban's books as they work well on both the adult and the child levels. This is bascially the story of Frances, a badger who is struggling with the fact that her little sister Gloria is having a birthday. Frances does not say it out loud, but rather through her actions and her little rhymes we realise that she is unhappy about it, that her sister seems to have all the birthdays and she doesn't have as many. Something which almost all children struggle with at some stage or another.

The lovely hting about this book is that the parents are so lovely and patient, and the sub-text is really fun for adults reading it. What Frances does makes for great fun. She borrows two weeks pocket money from her mother to buy Gloria a present, but then she ends up 'accidentally eating half of it - and the other half looks distinctly threatened by her justification.

I will guarantee your family will enjoy this story, and the other Frances stories as well - they are highly recommended as great good fun.