Let's Talk About Fancy Nancy

Me - Fancy Nancy, wow! My little sister read a lot of Fancy Nancy books when she was learning to read. Even though I was older, I really enjoyed them so I liked to read them too. Of course, at that time I was already into Young Adult books so it wasn't like I would go to the library and take them out. However, when my sister would have them I would like to read them with her. I remember there was Nancy; her sister; her best friend, Bree, her Mom; her Dad; her teacher, Miss Glass; and her neighbor. Fancy Nancy used big words. That was the purpose of the books to teach kids words. They would put the word and in parentheses the definition. In the back of the book would be a little dictionary with the definitions of all the words she had taught in the book. Of course, since I was older, I already knew all the words that she taught in the story. However, I still enjoyed the books. My favorite Fancy Nancy books were the one where she made cupcakes and the one where she got glasses. If you have a little kid, I would definitely recommend this series.*

*The above is guest post by Melia.



Mom- One of my favorite series of books to read with my children was Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor. Melia was already too old by the time Fancy Nancy  books were around. Aurella loved Fancy Nancy. She loved the books, and she loved the character. She was even Fancy Nancy one year for Halloween when she was around 4. That is what makes me think of Fancy Nancy at this time of year. I loved reading the Fancy Nancy books with Aurella.  I loved that Fancy Nancy books don't talk down to little kids by using little words that are easy. The stories are simple enough for kids to understand but they use a lot of big words. They challenge kids and expand their vocabulary. However, every big word used in any Fancy Nancy book is explained so there is never anything that will frustrate kids because they don't understand it. It is fun for them to learn all the big new words in the books. Aurella, for one, was always a kid that loved big words. You never knew what word would come out of her mouth that you would be surprised she even knew. Fancy Nancy books were perfect for her. The stories  are very enjoyable too. There is  always a lot of humor in them. There was one, for instance,  when Fancy Nancy was convinced that a new boy in her class was from Paris, France and it turned out that he was from Paris, Texas.  There was another when Nancy spend so much time making a fancy cover for her book report that she hardly had any time to do  the report.  Fancy Nancy was one of my favorite book series I ever read with my kids. I would highly recommend the series for anyone with a daughter learning to read especially one that likes big words and/or or fancy things like posh puppies, tea parties and ballerinas.

And that's our view? What book series for early readers is your favorite and why?

Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.