Birthday for Frances

Please note that a brief synopsis of many of the books included here areprovided in our Library Builders section. Study guides for the samebook are often available from several publishers, so we found it more efficientto give a description of the book only once.

Please also see our Readingsection for leveled reading seriessuch as I Can Read, Step Into Reading, and many more.

Possibly the most loveable badger in children's literature, Frances is somehow funny and opinionated yet naive as she experiences many of the same "bumps in the road" as many young children. You just can't help grinning as Frances runs "away" after the arrival of a baby sister, makes a trade with a crafty friend, and decides that bread and jam make the best meal of all. 32 pgs, pb unless otherwise noted. Please note that A Bargain for Frances is now only available in an "I Can Read" version which is slightly abridged and smaller-format.

An enjoyable guide written by Valerie Bendt for studying six of the Frances books. Frances is a young badger facing some of the same problems or conflicts many youngsters face, including having a new baby in the house! The series was chosen largely because of the positive attitudes and character traits modeled by Frances. The books provide more than character studies, however, as they provide the base for strengthening a whole spectrum of language arts skills including listening, comprehension, oral narration, sequencing, phonetics, beginning reading, writing, and discussion. Activities and games are included for each story as well, including active ones that more lively children will appreciate. The guide uses the Frances books listed below. Please note the guide is now only available as a CD-ROM with printable PDF files.

Worksheets in this guide are for Little Bear's Visit, Frog and Toad Are Friends, Curious George, The Magic Fish, Caps for Sale, Baby Sister for Frances, Madeline, Nate the Great and the Lost List, Amelia Bedelia, A New Coat for Anna and Blaze and the Lost Quarry.

If given a choice, most young readers will choose a book over a "reader" style collection of stories. Why? The stories are interesting, the illustrations engaging, and they seem more "manageable". Okay, so why not teach reading comprehension and beginning literature skills using wonderful children's books? Maybe because you don't want to invest in study guides for each book. Or maybe because you think there needs to be just a little more organized coverage of skills than you might come up with on your own. Or, maybe you just haven't found the right resource. Well, Logos Press has answered all these "maybes" by creating worksheets to go along with some great children's literature. These reproducible worksheets are compiled into spiral bound books and incorporate both the answers and notes for the teacher. Children have seven kinds of questions to answer: matching, multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, drawing a picture, listing, vocabulary definitions, and essay-type. Beginning Literature 1 and 2 includes worksheets for each book plus a sample reading comprehension worksheet that functions as a book report form identifying and describing main characters as well as listing the book's happenings at the beginning, middle, and end. These worksheets provide an excellent introduction to literature studies and reading comprehension by encouraging both thinking about the reading selection and expressing those thoughts in a cohesive manner. A grading label (for reading, English, and spelling) is included on each worksheet. The teacher's instructions include guidelines for grading, and a complete answer key is included.