Meet Fancy Nancy…my daughter’s new best friend! If you have a little girl and you don’t know Fancy Nancy, you need to sprint (that’s a fancy word for run) to the bookstore or library and introduce her to this fabulous character.
Now, I’m all for avoiding gender stereotypes. My daughters have tractor books, hockey books, and Bob the Builder books. But what does Frannie like best? Princess books. I figure if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em…so my small consolation is that I finally have her believing that the non-white and/or non-blonde princesses are just as beautiful as their fairer counterparts!
Fancy Nancy is not exactly a princess (although she would certainly like to be) but she is all girl. Despite this, the books are anything but pink fluff. There are subtle little lessons to be learned, and the language is engaging and entertaining. For example, in “Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy”, author Jane O’Connor writes: “Then I get an idea that is spectacular. (That’s a fancy word for great.)” Nancy constantly expands my daughter’s vocabulary, as she loves to repeat the fancy new words she has learned from the books. The pictures are adorable, and she’s imperfect enough to be just perfect.
As with any popular series, not only are there storybooks, but there are also now Fancy Nancy early reader books, and other merchandise (sticker books, dolls) …but at least I’m spreading the wealth around, instead of contributing directly to Disney every time I make a purchase.
The little character even has her own website now, with fun and games and more information about the books and creators.Oh, and we commissioned a local baker to put Fancy Nancy on Frannie’s 4th birthday cake a couple of weeks ago..check out what a great job she did!
To read a Celebrity Baby Blog interview with O’Connor and illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser, click here.
Very nice looking cake! How creative. I bet it tasted as good as it looked.
We tried to avoid gender stereotyping our girls when they were younger, too. My husband was appalled by the exclusively pink clothes our infant daugther was given at birth. For the first few weeks, he objected to her wearing anything pink. (Exhaustion set is quickly when we both returned to work shortly after her birth and she wore whatever was on the top of the heap). It wasn't until my son was a toddler (and my daugther was 3) that I realized that it did not matter much what I did. My daughter lovingly cared for, nursed and dressed her doll. My son tied a noose around his dolls' neck and dragged it everywhere he went 🙂
Robin Preiss Glasser, the illustrator of the Fancy Nancy books, has been nominated as Illustrator of the Year in the 2010 Children's Choice Awards and fans of the books can voted for her on http://www.bookweekonline.com.
You can help her win by voting — or helping your children to vote — at that Children's Book Week website.
Hello Everyone,
If you're a Fancy Nancy fan, please feel free to visit my new website: http://robinpreissglasser.com
I hope you have a good time.
All my best,
Robin Preiss Glasser