The Reading Warehouse

This beloved classic bedtime book continues to spark giggles and is a perfect read-aloud at bedtime.

It may be bedtime for Frances, but before Frances can sleep, she needs a glass of milk, a kiss from Father, one from Mother, her teddy bear, her doll, another kiss from Father, and another one from Mother. And then there are tigers and giants and ominous cracks in the ceiling to keep her up. Will Frances ever go to sleep?

Frances the badger made her debut with this title, long a favorite for the gentle humor of its familiar going to bed ritual.

Here is the coziest, most beguiling bedtime story in many a day. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The big hand of the clock is at 12.

The little hand is at 7.

It is seven o' clock.

It is bedtime for Frances.

Garth Williams is the renowned illustrator of almost one hundred books for children, including the beloved Stuart Little by E. B. White, Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban, and the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

He was born in 1912 in New York City but raised in England. He founded an art school near London and served with the British Red Cross Civilian Defense during World War II. Williams worked as a portrait sculptor, art director, and magazine artist before doing his first book Stuart Little, thus beginning a long and lustrous career illustrating some of the best known children's books.

In addition to illustrating works by White and Wilder, he also illustrated George Selden's The Cricket in Times Square and its sequels (Farrar Straus Giroux). He created the character and pictures for the first book in the Frances series by Russell Hoban (HarperCollins) and the first books in the Miss Bianca series by Margery Sharp (Little, Brown). He collaborated with Margaret Wise Brown on her Little Golden Books titles Home for a Bunny and Little Fur Family, among others, and with Jack Prelutsky on two poetry collections published by Greenwillow: Ride a Purple Pelican and Beneath a Blue Umbrella. He also wrote and illustrated seven books on his own, including Baby Farm Animals (Little Golden Books) and The Rabbits' Wedding (HarperCollins).

Russell Hoban was the author of A Bargain for Frances, A Baby Sister for Frances, Best Friends for Frances, A Birthday for Frances, and Bread and Jam for Frances, all illustrated by Lillian Hoban. He also wrote Bedtime for Frances, illustrated by Garth Williams.