Bread and jam for Frances
by Russell Hoban · first published 1964
5mentions
3recommended by
4HN commenters
2013–2022first – last mentioned
75% recommend25% neutral
"Jam on toast," sings Frances about the food she likes most--until she has it for the sixth meal in two days
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Could you be thinking of Bread and Jam for Frances? I had completely forgotten about this book until I read your comment and it popped back into my head. Frances jumping rope and eating toast and jam. It’s weird the way our brains can remember random…
on “The writers who translated Goethe became some of the best writers in English” ↗This is my favorite book of all time, introduced to me by a high school English teacher. Russel Hoban is more famous for his children's books such as Bread & Jam for Frances, which my Mom got me as a kid.
on “A Walk Around Inland: Russell Hoban’s “Riddley Walker”” ↗…discussions about what we were trying to achieve where more successful. When they were very young, we didn't talk about things so much as we read books with stories and we talked about the stories. Things like Bread and Jam for Frances or Pancakes for Breakfast. I found toddlers to be great observers, and not so great at reasoning :-).
on “Is 25 the new cut-off point for adulthood?” ↗…specifically that working on something not as fun can lead to something fun. The secondary goal turned out to be to find other things that are just as fun. This latter goal was abetted by reading stories like "Bread and Jam for Frances" in which our heroine learns that while Bread and Jam is tasty, it isn't all there is in the world. I did not realize it at the time but the secondary goal of finding things equally fun becomes really…
on “Choosing Minecraft over Disney” ↗That's an amazing opening. I'd like to read that now. (I have heard of this book before, but only in outline.) Edit: Oh my word! He wrote the text of the children's book "Bread and Jam for Frances" (and, I now learn, a whole series of others with the same character). That's a lovely bit of writing. I had no idea.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗