Fantasy/ Animal Story- "A Bargain for Frances" by Russell Hoban

    

Book Title: A Bargain for Frances	Author: Russell Hoban
Illustrator: Lillian Hoban	Awards-New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year
Book Type:  Picture	Approx. Reading Level: 2.6
Age of Content Appropriateness: k-2	Date Published: 1970
Genre and Topic: Fantasy/Animal book	Personal Rating of the Book:  5
ISBN: (13 or 10 digit) 9780064440011

Summary

Poor Frances, whenever she plays with Thelma she always gets the short end of the stick.  This time, Thelma has tricked Frances into paying all her money in exchange for Thelma’s plastic tea set with red flowers on it.  What Frances really wanted was a set of blue and white china dishes – the same set that Thelma told her the store no longer sold but there was Thelma, buying that set at the store with the money she got from Frances!  Frances doesn’t get mad but she does get her money back.   With a careful and somewhat sneaky plan, she gets Thelma to give Frances the tea set of her dreams and a dime too!  Great story about friendship, money and trust. 

Ways to Use the book

·         This book would be great for discussing honesty, integrity, forgiveness, and even bullying.  It is a situation that I think most kids would relate to- that feeling of being taken advantage of and the frustration that comes after.

·         http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/bargain-frances- this is the scholastic site that describes the book and gives some hints on using it.

·         I can read pdf of lesson ideas for this book and more.- list of ideas on how to introduce the book

·         Money and Stuff.info-  site for teaching students about money- ideas for using “A Bargain for Frances” to teach kids about money.  

Vocabulary Words

Boomerang (page 3) – a crescent shaped throwing device (kind of like a Frisbee) that if thrown correctly, will cast out and then return back towards the thrower.

china- (page 12) – cups and saucers and plates that are made of a certain type of clay and then baked in a very, very hot oven are called china.  They are delicate and breakable.

backsies (page 24) – backsies are when you decide you want out of a deal you made – you want to back out of it.

One Trait of the 6+1 Traits to Highlight

I would highlight organization.  The one thing I love about reading Hoban’s books are reading them out loud.  Each sentence is well planned and executed.    There is a clear beginning, middle and end to all the Frances stories and all the thoughts fit together well.   In this book the beginning is the part when her mom reminds her about what usually happens when she plays with Thelma.  The middle is the tea party she has with Thelma and the subsequent plan to reverse the deal.  The ending is a great solution to what could be a total wreck of a friendship but because Frances now knows how to handle herself with Thelma , she decides to forgive and move on- a little wiser but no less of a friend.  She shares her dime with Thelma and they buy candy.  

I really like how he structures his sentences and dialogue

“When Frances got home, she showed the tea set to her little sister,  Gloria.

‘That is a very ugly tea set, ‘ said Gloria.

‘What’s the matter with it?’ said Frances.

‘It’s ugly,’ said Gloria

‘It’s a nice tea set,’ said Frances

‘It’s plastic, ‘ said Gloria. ‘It has red flowers.  It’s ugly.  I like the china kind with the pictures all in blue.’” (pages 28-29)

Concerns with This Book: (if any) none.