Fancy Nancy
Encyclopedia
Fancy Nancy is a 2005 children's picture book
written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. While there are now more than 36 books in the Fancy Nancy series, selling over 16 million copies, this first book spent nearly 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list
. Fancy Nancy has been on Publishers Weekly’s
bestseller list for picture books, was a Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club selection and a Junior Library Guild Selection. It also won a "Borders 2006 Original Voices" award and has been translated into 17 languages, including Hungarian and Hebrew. Books in the series have now spent more than 250 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list
.
, tutus
, ruby slippers
, fairy wings, and fuzzy slippers. Nancy loves using big fancy words such as "iridescent", "ecstatic", and "extraordinary" and anything in French
. She has redecorated her bedroom with everyday items, such as feather boas, Christmas lights, paper flowers, and hats. Her favorite doll is named Marabelle Lavinia Chandelier.
In Nancy's opinion, her family is ordinary and dresses rather plainly, so Nancy decides to hold a class in the art of fanciness for her family. They oblige, and Nancy helps to dress them in bows, ornaments, top hats, and gaudy scarves. "Ooo-la-la!" Nancy cries in delight. "My family is posh! That's a fancy word for fancy."
O'Connor came up with Fancy Nancy on a summer evening. As she describes it, "It was after dinner one evening that the title just came to me," she recalls. "I sat down and wrote the first and last paragraphs. The rest of the story took me awhile, but the beginning and the end just flew into my head." O'Connor is quick to point out that much of the book's success is Glasser's artwork. She wrote the book in 2002, but it didn't come out until 2005, because her editor, Mararet Anastas, insisted on Glasser as the illustrator who was busy with other projects.
In 2005 Glasser was paired with author Jane O’Connor for the now classic Fancy Nancy.
A Fancy Nancy game called Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time! for the Nintendo DS
systems was released on September 14, 2010.
Coming in October, 2011:
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
written by Jane O'Connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser. While there are now more than 36 books in the Fancy Nancy series, selling over 16 million copies, this first book spent nearly 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
. Fancy Nancy has been on Publishers Weekly’s
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
bestseller list for picture books, was a Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club selection and a Junior Library Guild Selection. It also won a "Borders 2006 Original Voices" award and has been translated into 17 languages, including Hungarian and Hebrew. Books in the series have now spent more than 250 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
.
Plot introduction
Fancy Nancy is a young girl with a larger than life personality, who adores all things fancy. She always dresses extravagantly, wearing boasFeather boa
A feather boa is a fashion accessory that is usually worn wrapped around the neck like a scarf.-Construction:A boa can be made of fur, but it is usually made instead from various types of feathers. Ostrich, marabou, chandelle, and turkey are the most common feathers used, although non-feather boas...
, tutus
Ballet tutu
A tutu is a skirt worn as a costume in a ballet performance, often with attached bodice. It might be single layer, hanging down, or multiple layers starched and jutting out.There are several types of ballet tutu:...
, ruby slippers
Ruby slippers
The ruby slippers are the shoes worn by Dorothy in the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz. Because of their iconic stature, they are now among the most treasured and valuable of film memorabilia. As was customary for important props, a number of pairs were made for the film, though no one knows...
, fairy wings, and fuzzy slippers. Nancy loves using big fancy words such as "iridescent", "ecstatic", and "extraordinary" and anything in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. She has redecorated her bedroom with everyday items, such as feather boas, Christmas lights, paper flowers, and hats. Her favorite doll is named Marabelle Lavinia Chandelier.
In Nancy's opinion, her family is ordinary and dresses rather plainly, so Nancy decides to hold a class in the art of fanciness for her family. They oblige, and Nancy helps to dress them in bows, ornaments, top hats, and gaudy scarves. "Ooo-la-la!" Nancy cries in delight. "My family is posh! That's a fancy word for fancy."
Jane O'Connor
Jane O'Connor is vice-president and editor-at-large for Penguin Books for Young Readers. She has written more than thirty children's books. Her first adult novel, Dangerous Admissions: Secrets of a Closet Sleuth came out in July 2007.O'Connor came up with Fancy Nancy on a summer evening. As she describes it, "It was after dinner one evening that the title just came to me," she recalls. "I sat down and wrote the first and last paragraphs. The rest of the story took me awhile, but the beginning and the end just flew into my head." O'Connor is quick to point out that much of the book's success is Glasser's artwork. She wrote the book in 2002, but it didn't come out until 2005, because her editor, Mararet Anastas, insisted on Glasser as the illustrator who was busy with other projects.
Robin Preiss Glasser
Robin Preiss Glasser has had two successful careers, the first as a ballet dancer and the second as an award-winning children’s book illustrator. After an 11-year career as soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Glasser returned to school at age 30 to receive her BFA from Parsons The New School for Design. Among the noted authors and personalities for whom Glasser has illustrated best-selling children’s books are Judith Viorst, radio star Garrison Keillor, poet Elizabeth Garton Scanlon, and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Glasser received an ALA Notable Book Award for You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum with author Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, and collaborated on three books with the former vice president’s wife, Lynne Cheney ( America, A Patriotic Primer; A is for Abigail; and Our 50 States), which together sold more than 1 million copies.In 2005 Glasser was paired with author Jane O’Connor for the now classic Fancy Nancy.
Marketing
Fancy Nancy has spawned a line of toys and games focusing on dress-up and role play targeted towards preschoolers and children aged 5 to 7. In addition, the Fancy Nancy brand includes licenses for clothing, bed linens, paper party goods, and more. Numerous bookstores and libraries around the United States have hosted events including readings by both Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser, costume contests, “Fancy Nancy” days and tea parties.A Fancy Nancy game called Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time! for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
systems was released on September 14, 2010.
Series
Initially, O'Connor and Glasser signed a contract for two books with HarperCollins, but after the success of the first book, they later signed to do 13 additional Fancy Nancy titles across a variety of formats and continue to add titles:- Fancy Nancy (2005)
- Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy (2007)
- Fancy Nancy Loves! Loves!! Loves!!! (2007)
- Fancy Nancy and the Boy from Paris (I Can Read Book 1) (2008)
- Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly (2008)
- Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Book 1) (2008)
- Fancy Nancy: Let's Get Fancy Together! (2008)
- Fancy Nancy's Fashion Parade! (2008)
- Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words: From Accessories to Zany (2008)
- Fancy Nancy at the Museum (I Can Read Book 1) (2008)
- Fancy Nancy: Poison Ivy Expert (I Can Read Book 1) (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire! (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: Pajama Day (I Can Read Book 1) (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: The Show Must Go On (I Can Read Book 1) (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: The Dazzling Book Report (I Can Read Book 1) (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: The 100th Day of School (I Can Read Book 1) (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: Tea Parties (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: Halloween...or Bust! (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas (2009)
- Fancy Nancy's Perfectly Posh Paper Doll Book (2009)
- Fancy Nancy: Heart to Heart (2010)
- Fancy Nancy's Elegant Easter (2010)
- Fancy Nancy: Every Day is Earth Day (I Can Read Book 1) (2010)
- Fancy Nancy: Poet Extraordinaire! (2010)
- Fancy Nancy and the Sensational Babysitter (2010)
- Fancy Nancy and the Late, Late, LATE Night (2010)
- Fancy Nancy: Spectacular Spectacles (I Can Read Book 1) (2010)
- Fancy Nancy's Gloriously Gigantic Sticker-tivity Book (2010)
- Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day (2010)
- Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes (I Can Read Book 1) (2010)
- Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique (2010)
- Fancy Nancy: My Family History (I Can Read Book 1) (2010)
- Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller (I Can Read Book 1) (2011)
- Fancy Nancy: Fashionista: A Coloring and Activity Book (2011)
- Fancy Nancy: Aspiring Artist (2011)
- Fancy Nancy's Marvelous Mother's Day Brunch (2011)
- Fancy Nancy: Stellar Stargazer!
- Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl (I Can Read Book 1)
- Fancy Nancy: Express Yourself!: A Doodle and Draw Book
- Fancy Nancy's Haunted Mansion: A Reusable Sticker Book for Halloween
- Fancy Nancy: Our Thanksgiving Banquet
Coming in October, 2011:
- Fancy Nancy: Hair Dos and Hair Don'ts (I Can Read Book 1)