A HarperCollins I Can Read! Level 1 easy reader, Fancy Nancy at the Museum is a charming story about Jane O’Connor (author) and Robin Preiss Glasser’s (illustrator) beloved character Fancy Nancy. In this particular adventure, illustrated by Ted Enik, Fancy Nancy is going on a class trip to an art museum but gets sick on the way after eating too large a lunch. Her teacher Ms. Glass, however, saves the day by loaning Nancy her extra sweater and beret (a French hat, as Fancy Nancy lets her readers know). This book is perfectly suited to its intended age range of ages 4-8 with a 22-point typeface, lots of white space, and short words and lines. While the fun, colorful illustrations will please fans of the Fancy Nancy series, the best feature of this book is the way it manages to teach its readers new words, such as “overjoyed,” “merci,” and “spectacular,” through parenthetical asides that feel almost conspiratorial between Nancy and her reader, explaining that these words are “fancy words” for “very happy,” “French for ‘thank you,’ ” and “great.” The text also manages to teach new words about its setting, the museum, defining such words as “gallery,” “landscapes,” “still lifes,” and “portraits” by weaving them into the story without disrupting it. A glossary of “Fancy Nancy’s Fancy Words” with pronunciation help for the French words is provided at the end of the book to recap for the reader. This book makes a wonderful classroom supplement, especially for an art class, but also is an enjoyable independent read. While this story is clearly aimed at little girls with its fancy title character and her other female friends, including her teacher, boys have something to learn from this text, too, about art and the art of being considerate.
The Mermaid's Tale 