Bedtime for Frances

This is a great book, and brilliantly illustrated. The others in the series (like Bread and Jam for Frances) did not use the same artist and have an inferior look. The picture of Frances and her Father brushing their fangs before bed is incredibly cute, and my children think the picture of the father half awake in bed is hilarious. The original black and white illustrations are actually better and more scary-looking. Get an older copy if you can find it. To the more hysterical people in this forum who think their children are irreparably harmed by the spanking reference: I think what you really don't like is that the father threatens a spanking without being portrayed as some horrible monster. Aren't books supposed to be about learning? Just tell your children that back when this book was written (1960) smacking kids on the butt was a fairly common form of discipline. Tell them that you think this is wrong, although some parents today disagree. If your children are still traumatized, then you better home school them, because they are simply too emotionally fragile to go out in the real world.

I bought the cassette tape of the Frances stories for the car. My 3 year old son loves and I mean LOVES the stories. We bought the books after listening to the tape 200 times. The Frances stories are hilarious. Frances loves but sometimes is annoyed with her baby sister Gloria. Frances insists on eating only bread and jam, only to become utterly bored with this delicacy. Frances' friend Albert is a too the point, absolutely honest child, as most children this age are. Frances loves chompo bars which we now buy for our son. We call the Nestle Crunch bar a chompo and he is quite happy eating it. Frances does not like to go to bed and while it is no longer appropriate to spank a child, which is mentioned in this book, my son, who have never been spanked, does not dwell on this issue that book. Frances also makes up little songs in all of her books which are hilarious. My son whom I thought only loves trucks, cars and trains loves these books and adores the tape. Accordingly, this book comes highly highly recommended by one very satisfied 3 (almost 4) year old boy.

Frances was a classic when I was little. Now I read the same stories to my son. Whenever he keeps stalling, not wanting to go to bed I pull out Bedtime For Frances and read it to him. He smiles because so many of Frances' attempts to stay up late are so similar to his own. We don't spank, but he gets the idea that going to bed is serious business. When the story is over I ask him, "Now, what is your job?" and he closes his eyes with a sweet smile on his face. We both feel better and I can turn out the light.

Every night a little four year old girl pulls out this story to be read. The pictures are gorgeous. We have this story in a "book of classic bedtime stories", but bought it separately as well because she loved it so much!

Like many others I was read and read Bedtime For Frances as a child. My book was lost some years ago and I was thrilled to be able to get another copy. I think that this book is great to read to all children. You can even use it to show that sooner or later they will have to go to sleep and you can help them make it sooner.