1. the Big Hand of the Clock Is at 12

Name______Date______

BEDTIME FOR FRANCES By Russell Hoban

1. The big hand of the clock is at 12. 1. ______

2. The little hand is at 7. 2. ______

3. It is seven o’clock. 3. ______

4. It is bedtime for Frances. 4. ______

5. Mother said, “It is time for bed.” 5. ______

6. Father said, “It is time for bed.” 6. ______

7. Frances said, “I want a glass of milk.” 7. ______

8. “All right,” said Father. 8. ______

9. “All right,” said Mother. 9. ______

10. “You may have a glass of milk.” 10. ______

11. Frances drank the milk. 11. ______

12. “Carry me to my room, Father,” said Frances. 12. ______

13. “All right,” said Father. 13. ______

14. “Piggyback,” said Frances. 14. ______

15. So Father carried her piggyback to her room. 15. ______

16. Father kissed Frances good night. 16. ______

17. Mother kissed Frances good night. 17. ______

18. Frances said, “May I sleep with my teddy bear?” 18. ______

19. Father gave her the teddy bear. 19. ______

20. Frances said, “May I sleep with my doll, too?” 20. ______

1 21. Mother gave her the doll. 21. ______

22. “Good night,” said Father. 22. ______

23. “Good night,” said Mother. 23. ______

24. “Did you kiss me?” said Frances. 24. ______

25. “Yes,” said Mother. 25. ______

26. “Yes,” said Father. 26. ______

27. “Kiss me again,” said Frances. 27. ______

28. Father kissed her again. 28. ______

29. Mother kissed her again. 29. ______

30. They closed the door. 30. ______

31. “May I have my door open?” said Frances. 31. ______

32. Father opened the door. 32. ______

33. “Good night,” said Mother. 33. ______

34. “Good night,” said Father. 34. ______

35. “Good night,” said Frances. 35. ______

36. Frances could not sleep. 36. ______

37. She closed her eyes, but she still could not sleep. 37. ______

38. So she began to sing a little song about the alphabet. 38. ______

39. She made it up as she went along: “A is for apple pie, B 39. ______

is for bear, C is for crocodile, combing his hair.

40. D is for dumplings…” Frances kept singing through E, R, 40. ______

G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, and R, and she had no trouble

until she got near the end of the alphabet.

2 41. “S is for sailboat, T is for tiger, U is for underwear, down in 41. ______

the drier…” Frances stopped because “drier” did not sound

like “tiger.”

42. She started to think about tigers. 42. ______

43. She thought about big tigers and little tigers, baby tigers and 43. ______

mother and father tigers, sister tigers and brother tigers,

aunt tigers and uncle tigers.

44. “I wonder if there are any tigers around here,” she said. 44. ______

45. Frances looked around her room. 45. ______

46. She thought maybe she could see a tiger in the corner. 46. ______

47. She was not afraid, but she wanted to be sure. 47. ______

48. So she looked again. 48. ______

49. She was sure she could see a tiger. 49. ______

50. She went to tell Mother and Father. 50. ______

51. “There is a tiger in my room,” said Frances. 51. ______

52. “Did he scratch you?” said Mother. 52. ______

53. “No,” said Frances. 53. ______

54. “Then he is a friendly tiger,” said Father. 54. ______

55. “He will not hurt you. Go back to sleep.” 55. ______

56. “Do I have to?” said Frances. 56. ______

57. “Yes,” said Father. 57. ______

58. “Yes,” said Mother. 58. ______

59. Father kissed her. 59. ______

3 60. Mother kissed her. 60. ______

61. Frances went back to bed, and finished her song on the way. 61. ______

62. She closed her eyes again. 62. ______

63. She still could not sleep. 63. ______

64. Frances opened her eyes and looked around. 64. ______

65. She saw something big and dark. 65. ______

66. “Giants are big and dark,” she thought. 66. ______

67. “Maybe that is a giant. 67. ______

68. I think it is a giant. 68. ______

69. I think that giant wants to get me.” 69. ______

70. She went into the living room. 70. ______

71. Mother and Father were watching television and having tea 71. ______

and cake.

72. Frances said, “There is a giant in my room. 72. ______

73. May I watch television?” 73. ______

74. “No,” said Mother. 74. ______

75. “No,” said Father. 75. ______

76. Frances said, “The giant wants to get me. 76. ______

77. May I have some cake?” 77. ______

78. Father gave Frances a piece of cake. 78. ______

79. Father said, “How do you know he wants to get you?” 79. ______

80. Frances said, “Isn’t that what giants do?” 80. ______

81. Father said, “Not always. Why don’t you ask him what he 81. ______

4 wants?”

82. Frances went back to her room. 82. ______

83. She went right over to the giant. 83. ______

84. She said, “What do you want, Giant?” 84. ______

85. She took a good look at him. 85. ______

86. There was no giant. 86. ______

87. It was just the chair and her bathrobe. 87. ______

88. So she went to bed again. 88. ______

89. Frances was not very tired and did not close her eyes. 89. ______

90. She looked up at the ceiling, and she thought about it. 90. ______

91. “Maybe something will come out of that crack,” she 91. ______

thought.

92. “Maybe bugs or spiders. 92. ______

93. Maybe something with a lot of skinny legs in the dark.” 93. ______

94. She went to get Father. 94. ______

95. He was brushing his teeth. 95. ______

96. Frances said, “Something scary is going to come out of the 96. ______

crack in the ceiling.

97. I forgot to brush my teeth.” 97. ______

98. Father said, “You brush your teeth, and I will have a look.” 98. ______

99. Frances brushed her teeth. 99. ______

100.Father came back and said, “Nothing could come out of 100. ______

such a little crack.

5 101. But if you are worried about it, get somebody to help you 101.______

watch.

102. You can take turns.” 102.______

103. Frances told her teddy bear to watch. 103.______

104. They took turns for a while. 104.______

105. Then Frances got tired of it and let Teddy do all the 105.______

watching.

106. Frances got up and went to the bathroom. 106.______

107. When she came back she was not sleepy at all. 107.______

108. The window was open and the wind was blowing the 108.______

curtains.

109. “I do not like the way those curtains are moving,” said 109.______

Frances.

110. “Maybe there is something waiting, very soft and quiet. 110.______

111. Maybe it moves the curtains just to see if I a watching.” 111.______

112. She went into Mother and Father’s room to tell them. 112.______

113. They were asleep. 113.______

114. Frances stood by Father’s side of the bed very quietly, right 114.______

near his head.

115. She was so quiet that she was the quietest thing in the 115.______

116.She was so quiet that Father woke up all of a sudden, with 116.______

his eyes wide open.

6 117. He said “Umph!” 117.______

118. Frances said, “There is something moving the curtains. 118.______

119. May I sleep with you? 119.______

120. Father said, “Listen, Frances, do you want to know why the 120.______

curtains are moving?”

121. Why?” said Frances. 121.______

122. “That is the wind’s job,” said Father. 122.______

123. “Every night the wind has to go around and blow all the 123.______

curtains.”

124. “How can the wind have a job?” said Frances. 124.______

125. “Everybody has a job,” said Father. 125.______

126.“I have to go to my office every morning at nine o’clock. 126.______

127. That is my job. 127.______

128. You have to go to sleep so you can be wide awake for 128.______

school tomorrow.

129. That is your job.” 129.______

130. Frances said, “I know, but…” Father said, “I have not 130.______

finished.

131. If the wind does not blow the curtains, he will be out of a 131.______

132. If I do not go to the office, I will be out of a job. 132.______

133. And if you do dot go to sleep now, do you know what will 133.______

happen to you?”

7 134. “I will be out of a job?” said Frances. 134.______

135. “No,” said Father. 135.______

136. “I will get a spanking?” said Francis. 136.______

137.“Right!” said Father. 137.______

138. “Good night!” said Frances, and she went back to her 138.______

139. Frances closed the window and got into bed. 139.______

140. Suddenly there was a noise at the window. 140.______

141. She heard BUMP! and THUMP! 141.______

142. “I know something will get me this time,” she thought. 142.______

143. She jumped out of bed and went to tell Mother and Father. 143.______

144. When she got to their door, she thought about it some more 144.______

and decided not to tell them.

145. She went back to her room. 145.______

146. Frances heard the noise at the window again. 146.______

147. She pulled the covers over her head. 147.______

148. “I wonder what it is,” she thought. 148.______

149. “If it is something very bad, Father will have to come and 149.______

chase it away.”

150. She pulled off the covers and stood on her bed so she could 150.______

look out the window.

151. She saw a moth bumping against the window. 151.______

152. Bump and thump. 152.______

8 153. His wings smacked the glass. 153.______

154. Whack and smack! 154.______

155. Whack and smack made Frances think of a spanking. 155.______

156. And all of a sudden she was tired. 156.______

157. She lay down and closed her eyes so she could think better. 157.______

158. She thought, “There were so many giants and tigers and 158.______

scary and exciting things before, that I am pretty tired now.

159. That is just a moth, and he is only doing his job, the same 159.______

as the wind.

160. His job is bumping and thumping, and my job is to sleep.” 160.______

161. So she went to sleep and did not get out of bed again until 161.______

Mother called her for breakfast.