WOW!!! This book literally brought tears to my eyes! I love how kind and thoughtful Frankie was even though he was so young. He gave his favorite sweater to a hobo. Frankie also finally got to be the angel in the christmas pageant like he always wanted. When his father finally returned home with an orange for each of the nine kids in the family, Frankie was so excited. He couldn't wait to eat his orange, but he lost it. He cried and then he told his mother what had happened. He told her that he lost his orange and gave his sweater to a hobo. When he finally went downstairs all of his siblings gave one wedge in their orange to make an orange for Frankie. It was the best christmas of all! They all went to sleep and as Frankie's parents looked at Frankie sleep, they say he looked like an angel. They called it Frankie's christmas. This was Frankie's last christmas. This book speaks volumes. I love it sooooooo very much. Frankie may not have lived a long life but he lived his best life. ( )

Another great book, I'm really loving this author! I think I like her so much is because she uses her own personally family in her stories. This is a story about a boy name Frankie, who is from Michigan. He was the youngest of nine children in the Stowell family. Every Christmas his dad would drive a horse and buggy all the way to Lansing to get his children oranges and other materials they needed for Christmas. The rising action of this book is when Pa hasn’t return home yet with the oranges to decorate the mantle. The climax of this story is when the father returns from getting the oranges, and Frankie doesn’t listen to his father and take his orange to church that night. The resolution is this story is Frankie tells his family that he gave his sweater to the homeless man. They realized that Frankie helped someone in need out, they all took a slice of their orange and gave it to Frankie. At the end of this, Frankie had a whole orange. This book teaches lessons and is also a great story! ( )

Frankie, the youngest member of the Stowell family, is excited for Christmas, but there is one problem. Pa still has not returned from Lansing, so it could be Christmas without Pa and without oranges. Frankie and the Stowell family demonstrate both generosity, mercy, and forgiveness through this heart-warming story. Frankie was Polacco's grandmother's youngest brother, and this was the story of his last Christmas. ( )

This is a great example of biographical fiction. It is a story based on the authors great uncle, who lost his traditional Christmas orange. Along the way we learn about helping others and the true meaning of family. Media: Pencil and Ink.

Polacco does it again, using her own experiences. In this book Polacco uses the story of her great uncle Frankie. In An Orange for Frankie, Frankie is one of nine siblings. The Stowell family doesn’t have much but the help those in need, like the 628 train engineer and hobos. The Stowell family has a Christmas tradition of having nine oranges on their mantel. That tradition is almost broken when Mr. Stowell is running late from his trip. As a Christmas miracle, Mr. Stowell makes home it time with the help of the 628 train. This book is an example of “do on to others has you would have them do on to you.” In a classroom this book can be used alongside other books to show different family Christmas traditions. ( )