Nancy Clancy, Late-Breaking News!

January 9, 2006
With exuberance, élan and lots of heart, O'Connor (the Nina, Nina Ballerina books) and Glasser (A Is for Abigail
) prove that the bosom of the family has ample room for even the most outré individualist. Channeling the spirits of Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn—whose pictures adorn her extravagantly decorated room—Nancy tries to make the world a more flamboyant place, starting with her decidedly down-to-earth family ("They never even ask for sprinkles," she notes as they exit an ice cream parlor). She offers her parents and little sister a free tutorial in all things fancy (yellow is plain, gold is fancy), which they gamely attend, and they even agree to go to a restaurant wearing Nancy-orchestrated frou-frou (Mom's ensemble includes Christmas ornament earrings and a feather boa). But when Nancy commits a faux pas of major proportions (she trips with a tray full of ice cream) she comes to realize that her family's love for her is as bottomless as her collection of hair accessories. O'Connor captures Nancy's dramatic precociousness without making her sound like a snoot ("My favorite color is fuchsia. That's a fancy way of saying purple"); she comes across as a genuinely creative spirit rather than an imperious fashionista. Glasser's pictures brim with comic detail and sparkle like a bauble from Tiffany. Like O'Connor, she empathizes with Nancy's over-the-top sensibility, yet gently grounds the heroine in the steady (if bemused) embrace of her family. Ages 4-7.

February 1, 2006
PreS-K -Young Nancy, like her literary predecessors Eloise and Olivia, is a glamour queen dropped into a boring world - -Nobody in my family is fancy at all. They never even ask for sprinkles. - She determines to rescue her relatives from their humdrum existence by giving them lessons and accessorizing their mundane wardrobes. A situation that is charming when observed by adults in real life doesn -t translate into a successful picture book. Children pretending to be fabulous creatures is appealing when it is innocent and unforced. This book, despite Glasser -s wonderfully energetic artwork, is ultimately a story told by adults for adults." -Kathleen Whalin, York Public Library, ME"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.