The Fanciest Rainbow Book Yet

The Easter Bunny brought me a real treat! Thanks to some hot tips (thanks Liz, via Martha Stewart and Katie, via Emily's blog) I learned recently of a book entitled Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Conner (illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser). I put it on my LONG "to read" list. Last week Taylor and I walked up to the bookstore to have a look around, and I (predictably) meandered, no-more like beelined-to the children's literature section. After perusing the sale bin for a few minutes I went to find Fancy Nancy. She is glorious. Here's what she looks like:

I know they say you can't judge a book by it's cover, but I couldn't help myself! There I was, standing in the bookstore, oogling over this fabulous girl! (What you can't see on this screen, is the very fancy glitter which adorns the title and title character.) I didn't care what was inside, I already loved this book. I read the first few hilarious pages (which were reminiscent of Eloise) to Taylor and said, "I have to have this book!" But, feeling very poor having just written a check to the IRS (oh, glorious tax season!), we decided to leave without Nancy. I didn't feel fancy. I felt glum.

Which takes us back to the dear Easter Bunny (AKA my dear husband). On Easter Sunday I discovered 2 things on my bed. The first was a basket filled with delicious chocolatey things and the second was a glittery, hardback book. "Fancy Nancy!" I squealed with delight. I read the story aloud to Taylor...

"I love being fancy. My favorite color is fuchsia. That's a fancy way of saying purple. I like to write my name with a pen that has a plume. That's a fancy way of saying feather. And I can't wait to learn French because everything in French sounds fancy." And so begins the delightful story. Feeling frustrated that her family is so totally plain, Nancy decides she will teach her family how to be fancy. She trains and tutors them on how to dress and talk more like her--more fancy! She takes them out to dinner and they do everything fancily. They even "eat with their pinkies up and call each other 'darling.'" But Nancy discovers that even the fanciest girls can lose their fancy. And that her family loves her even then.

OOOOHHHH you absolutely must read this book! You will love the ending, you will love the detailed illustrations, you will love the charm of this little girl who loves to think big. You will love Fancy Nancy.