Bread and Jam for Frances
Story by Russell Hoban
Illustrated by Lillian Hoban
Frances is a fussy eater. In fact, the only thing she likes is bread and jam. She won’t touch her squishy soft-boiled egg. She trades away her chicken-salad sandwich at lunch. She turns up her nose at boring veal cutlets. Unless Mother can come up with a plan, Frances just might go on eating bread and jam forever!
This book is perfect for picky eaters. Take a look at the cover and have your child tell you their favorite food and why. Bread and jam are Frances’ favorite…for now ! There are little songs that Frances sings; make storytime fun by creating a tune for them and singing them together!
Discussion Questions:
- Frances sits down with her family to have breakfast. What are her parents and sister eating for breakfast at the beginning of the story? What does Frances eat and why?
- At dinner, Frances tells her parents about what she did with her school lunch. What did she do with it? What did you have for lunch at school this week and did you enjoy it?
- The next day, Mother anticipated that Frances only wanted bread and jam for breakfast and lunch. Was Frances surprised or happy to have that for breakfast and lunch again?
- What were Frances and Albert’s attitudes towards their lunch and how did it make them feel during recess?
- Why did Frances start crying when she was having dinner with her family? Would you also be tired of eating your favorite food over and over?
- Frances’ songs are sung based on how she’s feeling. Have your child read each song and tell you if Frances was singing this when she was happy or when she was tired and why.
This is a cute story to show your child that it’s fun to try new foods. If your child doesn’t know what some of the food mentioned in this book is, this would be a fun way to introduce those new foods. You can do a Google image search to show them or add them to your shopping list one day! You can even brainstorm and make a list together of food to try and check them off little by little.
Additionally, we found a great reading guide from our friends at HarperCollins: Click Here Â