Bread+and+Jam+for+Frances

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban Pictures by Lillian Hoban Paperback: 31 pages Published: 1964 ISBN: 0-06-022359-6
 * Bibliographic Information**

Russell Hoban, in addition to writing //Bread and Jam for Frances//, wrote many genres including science fiction, fantasy, fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. Hoban was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania on February 4, 1925. As he grew up, he briefly attended Temple University before enlisting in WWII at the age of 18. After leaving the military service, Hoban worked as an illustrator, painting covers for //Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated,// and //The Saturday Evening Post.// Shortly after, he wrote and illustrated his first children's book entitled //What Does It Do and How Does It Work?// published by Harper in 1959. In 1964, he began teaching drawing at the School of Visual Arts in New York. For the next decade he focused on writing only children's books and became most famous for his seven picture book series featuring Frances.
 * Author Biography**

This book is about a young girl name Frances who is a very picky eater. For every meal, she refuses to eat what is cooked for her and only eats bread and jam. To her surprise, her parents let her eat bread and jam for every meal. At first, Frances is thrilled. She loves bread and jam and doesn't mind eating it for every meal everyday. One day, she comes down to the breakfast table and sees her family eating poached eggs on toast. She sits down and realizes she doesn't have a poached egg on her plate like everyone else. Her mom gave her bread and jam because Frances said she doesn't like eggs. For lunch, Frances had a packed lunch of only bread and jam. She becomes sad and only eats a few bites of her bread and jam. When Frances returns home from school,she is given bread and jam for a snack. Once it was dinner time, her family was eating spaghetti and meatballs, but she was served bread and jam again. Frances begins to cry because she is sick of eating bread and jam and asked to have some spaghetti and meatballs instead. Frances at all of her dinner and didn't ask for any bread and jam. At school the next day, Frances was given a diverse lunch of a lobster sandwich, tomato soup, celery, cherries, and vanilla pudding instead of her usual bread and jam. Frances finally began trying new foods and was happy without bread and jam.
 * Summary**

Bread and Jam for Frances is an extraordinary children's book that has been one of my personal favorites since I was young. The story about a young girl who is a picky eater is very relatable to young children. The words as well as the illustrations make the story come to life. What makes this story so special is Frances's little songs she sings when describing food. Her songs rhyme, are silly, and very unique. Even without the words, a child would easily be able to tell the story through the pictures. This is a heartwarming tale of a picky girl who finally learns and loves to eat new foods. Rather than forcing Frances to eat new foods, they played along and let her eat all the bread and jam she wanted until she finally became sick of it. It's the perfect book for young children who are picky eaters and can relate to Frances and her obsession with bread and jam.
 * Review**

The theme of this story is about trying new foods and not being a picky eater. From the beginning of the story, Frances would not try any other food besides bread and jam. As the story progresses, Frances begins eating bread and jam for every meal and eventually gets sick of it. At the end of the story, Frances finally tries spaghetti and meatballs and puts her bread and jam aside. For young children reading this book, they will realize that trying new foods can be great. Eating the same thing everyday gets boring and isn't special anymore when you eat your favorite food everyday. I believe that young, picky eaters reading //Bread and Jam for Frances// will relate to Frances and perhaps want to try new foods. I believe this book will be very beneficial in a elementary or preschool classroom.
 * Analysis of Literary Elements**