What is a six-year-old boy's favorite line in this book?
Why, "U is for underwear down in the dryer," of course!
He loved this A, B, C rhyme so much, he's been singing it today.
over. and over. and over.
ad nauseum!
Why, "U is for underwear down in the dryer," of course!
He loved this A, B, C rhyme so much, he's been singing it today.
over. and over. and over.
ad nauseum!
We love the Frances books! Enjoy that song all.day.long.:)
ReplyDeleteMy sister and I used to have bedrooms on the opposite side of the farmhouse from our parents. We all imagine that nothing could be more fun than everyone "having their own room" but the place was huge and at night my 6 year old sister Lori Sue was very frightened of lights and shadows on her bedroom walls.
ReplyDeleteOne way that we used to "cope with anxiety" stranded so far from the security of our parents, was to tell each other stories. I was quite a reader and had an imagination that flowed so I would make up stories to tell my sister. She on the other hand, was a little less spontaneous, when it was her turn to be the narrator, she would take requests, and of all the books she had memorized, my favorite to ask for was "Bedtime for Frances." Her delivery was thorough and her voice characterizations were marvelous. Frances singing her ABC's was the best part!
There are few phrases in the English language that are more satisfying to say, and yield a wider grin than the delivering the phrase, "U is for underwear down in the dryer." It may be Russell Hoban's most inspiring line from all of his work, Certainly it is one of the most memorable.
I hope all of your children treasure their memories of the Frances books with the same pleasure as I do... don't you also love the description of Albert's lunch in bread and jam for Frances. I'm pretty sure Albert's lunch if purchased at a Watt's tea shop, would cost over 20$, definitely one of the best descriptions of lunch ever composed! :)
I happened upon your blog while researching the line 'U is for underwear down in the dryer'. I simply could not remember which children's book or author that had come from, but I remembered clearly that the first time I read it, I laughed out loud! I thought, 'This author has a genuine handle on family life!' because often when my kids asked about the whereabouts of some clean socks or underwear, 'Down in the dryer' was my reply! Anyway, today is my youngest child's 26th birthday, so we haven't read any Frances books for quite a while, of course. But Hoban's alphabet 'song' and the memorable 'U' line will never be forgotten. I MUST purchase a copy of Bedtime for Frances for my 18 month old granddaughter Phoebe!
ReplyDelete