
Written by Russell Hoban · Illustrated by Lillian Hoban
Part of the Frances series
A picky eater's obsession with bread and jam challenges her parents' creativity.
Frances loves bread and jam, refusing all other foods. Her parents face a dilemma: how to expand her palate beyond her sticky, sweet favorite. Will they find a way to break her jam-only diet, or will Frances continue her culinary rebellion? Discover the humorous journey of a stubborn eater and her family's quest to introduce variety into her meals.
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!
4.6
out of 7
“Bread and Jam for Frances is a classic originally published in 1964 about little Frances who loves bread and jam and refuses to try anything else. Eventually, her parents stop offering other food, and after Frances eats bread and jam for breakfast, lunch, after-school snack, and dinner, Frances starts to get tired of it and discovers a new interest in trying new foods. The earliest readers may not appreciate the lesson unless they have some helpful prompting from someone reading with them. But if the reading happens together, it might be a great way to talk about the picky eating together. As a bonus, the book might introduce young readers to some new, old-fashioned words--like the "doily" Frances uses to set out a nice little school lunch picnic.”
Trusted reviewer
“I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I have some picky eaters in my home as well. I never considered giving them only one type of food for a while. Perhaps I'll try it and see if it works for them as it did for Frances.”
Trusted reviewer
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Top contributors: Elaine R. · Literary Leslie