I’ve got mixed feelings about the Fancy Nancy series by Jane O’Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser. On one hand, Nancy is a bright, confident girl who likes learning new words and being thoughtful to her friends. On the other, what she really loves — her whole raison d’etre — is to be fancy. And heaven knows there’s enough princess lit geared to little girls.
So when kiddo received Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy, I had qualms. Would Nancy go for a purebred papillon, like her neighbor Mrs. Devine’s dog Jewel? Would she convince her parents they absolutely needed to go to a breeder, where they could find the fanciest dog?
Happily, the answer to both of those questions is NO. Nancy does dogsit Jewel for a day, but when her parents stop by the local animal shelter after an evening out (eating what I can only assume is pizza with Daiya “cheese” at King’s Crown), she falls in love with Frenchy. In the end, even Fancy Nancy finds her dream dog is a rescue.
To O’Connor and Preiss Glasser’s credit, the shelter message is crystal clear — but kids might need to be told that Frenchy is not only a shelter dog, but a mutt. (Nancy’s dad’s reference to a “La Salle spaniel,” a nod to the name of the animal shelter, might be too subtle for some.)
Ideal for kids ages 3-7. (Publisher says 4-7 but kiddo loved this series when she was 3.)