A Birthday for Frances

This review is not about the quality of the Book/ content, but the product is of exteremely poor quality with small letters and very thin papers, not the original good quality book

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.

Is there anyone who doesn't love Frances and all her antics? I have been reading Frances books to children for 35 years. Every time they delight me as much as the children listening. All Frances books are wonderful.

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.

I adore all the Frances books, but I think this might be my favorite. My three-year-old daughter has no doubts -- the birthday theme, the entrancing details of Gloria's party (little baskets of jellybeans and chocolate-covered peanuts; it is to swoon!), the tantalizing Chomp-O Bar -- she can't get enough of this book. It also conveys a gentle message about sibling rivalry, but it's not heavy-handed and will delight any child, singleton or otherwise. No children's author remembered childhood joys and miseries more keenly than Hoban, and Frances is instantly recognizable as a very real little girl. I do wish someone more musical than I would supply me with tunes for Frances' little songs!

"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.