A Birthday For Frances

Frances isn't happy, because it isn't her big birthday day, it is Gloria's. Frances isn't sure she will give Gloria her whole present and might keep half for herself. After all, little sisters aren't that good, they can't throw, they always break your crayons, pull your toys apart and put water in your mud pies. It isn't till Gloria makes her birthday cake wish, that Frances changes her mind!

Famed for her many adventures, Frances made her debut with this title over thirty years ago. In this first Frances book, the little badger adroitly delays her bedtime with requests for kisses and milk, and concerns over tigers and giants and things going bump in the night. Long a favorite for the gentle humor of its familiar going to bed ritual, Bedtime for Frances is at last available with the warmth of full color enriching Garth Williams’s original nuanced and touching art. ‘Here is the coziest, most beguiling bedtime story in many a day.’—Kirkus Reviews (pointer).

One day Thelma tricks Frances into buying her old plastic tea set. Thelma says there are no backsies on the bargain. Can Frances come up with a plan that will change her friend's mind? Outstanding Children's Books of 1970 (NYT)

Frances is jealous of her sister's birthday, spirit moves her reluctanty to give her coveted gift.

Frances doesn't think her little sister, Gloria, can be her friend. But when Frances's friend Albert has a no-girls baseball game, Frances shows him a thing or two about friendship—and a thing or two about what girls can do. Along the way, Frances discovers that sisters can indeed be friends . . . maybe even best friends.

When a baby sister arrives, Frances the badger finds a charming way to prove her own importance.

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!

Twenty-two poems reflect Frances' observations on the events in her life.