Frances is a badger, a little girl badger with a mind of her own and a talent for making up songs. We use lots of Francesisms in our house, and so in honor of the birthday of Lillian Hoban (b. May 18, 1925), author with her husband Russell, of the Frances books, I give you our favorite Francesisms:
“Being careful isn’t nice; being friends is better.”
“A lot of girls never do get tea sets. So maybe you won’t get one.”
“No backsies.”
“When the wasps and the bumblebees have a party.
Nobody comes that can’t buzz.”
“That is how it is, Alice. Your birthday is always the one that is not now.”
“Chompo bars are nice to get,
Chompo Bars taste better yet
When they’re someone else’s.”
“A family is everybody all together.”
“If the wind does not blow the curtains, he will be out of a job.
If I do not go to the office, I will be out of a job.
And if you do not go to sleep now, do you know what will happen to you?”
“Sunny-side up eggs lie on the plate and look up at you in a funny way. And sunny-side down eggs just lie on their stomachs and wait. Scrambled eggs fall off the fork and roll under the table.”
“Jam on biscuits, jam on toast,
Jam is the thing that I like most.
Jam is sticky, jam is sweet,
Jam is tasty, jam’s a treat—
Raspberry, strawberry, gooseberry, I’m very
FOND . . . OF . . . JAM!”
“She liked to practice with a string bean when she could.”
“Jam for snacks and jam for meals,
I know how a jam jar feels—
FULL . . . OF . . . JAM!”
“How do you know what I’ll like if you won’t even try me?”
We love Frances at our house too and we also use Francesisms on a regular basis. Every time I make eggs for breakfast we recite the one about sunny side up eggs, etc.
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