Fancy Nancy at the Museum

April 1, 2008
K-Gr 2-While these new readers are adequate, they do not offer the high energy that bounces off every page in the original "Fancy Nancy" (HarperCollins, 2006). Of the two titles, "Museum" has the stronger text. Here, Nancy's teacher saves the day when the child overeats and gets sick on a class field trip. The story in "Boy from Paris" is slight, and the logic is problematic. Nancy, who loves anything French, assumes that a new classmate is from France until she later learns that he moved from Paris, TX. The precocious heroine comments that the boy "already speaks English," but wouldn't she notice that he doesn't have a French accent? The interior illustrations, modeled on the art of Robin Preiss Glasser (who drew the cover) but rendered by Enik, lack the spark and momentum that characterize Glasser's work. Additionally, the reading level printed on the covers (Level 1) does not seem appropriate. With new vocabulary such as "perplexed" and "gorgeous," and with six to eight sentences on some pages, these books seem to be Level 2. Strengths include a large font size, ample white space, and an appealing main character. Large libraries with strong early-reader sections may want to order the museum title."Barbara Katz, Parish Episcopal School, Dallas, TX"

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