Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire! [Hardcover]

Jane O'Connor (Author), Robin Preiss Glasser (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: March 31, 2009 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years | Series: Fancy Nancy | Lexile Measure: 540L (What's this?)

For the fanciest girl around, the outdoors are out of this world! Fancy Nancy and her best friend, Bree, set out to explore the fascinating world of wildflowers, trees, leaves, birds, and, of course, butterflies in their exclusively glamorous Explorers' Club. With recipes for pinecone bird feeders and extra-fancy lemonade, an official club bird, and an exclusive map of the territory, Fancy Nancy is one Explorer Extraordinaire!

Take a look at Nancy's very own enlightening discoveries and find out just how fancy the outdoors can be!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3—Nancy returns with all of the sophistication, aplomb, and humor she displayed in her previous books. She and her best friend, Bree, have created an exclusive club (they are the sole members) for their nature studies. The Explorers Extraordinaire have official membership certificates, a dress code, and, most importantly, a clubhouse. Their mission is to search for bugs, birds, and leaves in their backyards and record what they find in their notebooks. Back in their clubhouse, the explorers do additional research to learn more about their discoveries. When younger siblings ask to join the club, they are rejected for lack of maturity. After finding a baby bird that has fallen from his nest, the junior explorers are allowed to join. This slim title is packed with a lot of information about nature, but the vocabulary makes it too challenging for beginning readers. That aside, it is one of Nancy's most captivating adventures. The pages overflow with her personality and style. Text and illustrations pull together to show readers what a smart and complex character she is. A sure winner for eager young explorers.—Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME
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About the Author

Jane O'Connor is the author of more than thirty books for children, including Nina, Nina Ballerina, illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo, and the Fancy Nancy picture book series. Ms. O'Connor lives with her family in ever-posh New York City.

Desde la publicacion de Nancy la Elegante, el closet de Jane O’Connor cuenta con tantas boas, coronas y atuendos brillantes que a veces sus amigas no la reconocen por la calle. Aun reside (esa es una palabra elegante para decir que vive) en la ciudad de Nueva York con su familia y su companero canino, Arrow.

Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser are the author and illustrator of the #1 New York Times bestselling Fancy Nancy series. Jane lives with her family in New York City. Robin lives with her family in Southern California.

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Robin Preiss Glasser realmente usó coronas y tutús como bailarina del Pennsylvania Ballet durante once años. Ahora pasa sus días muy a gusto en pantalones vaqueros y gafas, dibujando bestsellers como Nancy la Elegante por Jane O’Connor y America: A Patriotic Primer por Lynne Cheney. Robin vive en el sur de California con su esposo, Bob, sus hijos Sasha y Benjamín, y su perrito, Boo, al que todavía aprecia a pesar de haber mordisqueado el sofá de la sala.

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061684864
• ISBN-13: 978-0061684869
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jane O'Connor is the author of more than thirty books for children, including the New York Times bestselling Fancy Nancy series, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, and the Nina, Nina Ballerina stories, illustrated by Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan. Fancy Nancy was nominated for the Quill Award for Best Picture Book in 2007. The Emperor's Silent Army: Terra Cotta Warriors of Ancient China won Booklist's Best Nonfiction Book for Young Readers in 2000. Jane has two grown sons. She was born, bred and still lives in New York City with her husband and their canine companion, Arrow.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars fancy Nancy gets a little gross!! April 2, 2009

By Patty

Format:Hardcover

I have been a huge fan of the Fancy Nancy collection since the first time I opened the first book and began to read to a group of children.
As a children's bookseller, there are certain characteristics I look for when choosing a book to read aloud... will it engage the children, does the text flow, is the main character easy to relate to, etc.
Fancy Nancy...any which one... is all of those and more!!
We have had quite a few Fancy parties in our store with nearly one hundred children: tiaras, feather boas, blusher, body glitter, gloves, heels, beads and the list could go on forever!!! Jane O'Conner has been with us to celebrate on at least three different occasions and Robin at least once.
Okay, sorry for the tangent, Explorer Extraordinaire was a lovely surprise finding Nancy and Bree with their siblings and friends as usual however, this book includes wonderful non-fiction that almost every child aged 4-5-6-7+ years old will love! Butterflies, ladybugs, spiders and flies! Beautiful wildflowers, real recipes and even a map! Be sure that there's glitter and French and lessons to learn. Nancy is the same girl we have come to love, she's just a little older; just as most of her original fans are!
This book will not disappoint, Jane and Robin have done it again and it's wonderful!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best one so far! May 9, 2009

By nctmac

Format:Hardcover

I've loved all the Fancy Nancy books! I don't get into the glam as much as other Fancy Nancy followers, which is why I liked this one so much. This book is full of accurate scientific terms and information. This book is more structured & organized than other Fancy Nancy Books. It encourages children to focus their endless curiousity in an exciting educational way, while of course, being fancy =)

Book is approx. 9 in. top to bottom & 7 in. across. It is a bit longer than the other FN books, the story is 30 pages.

The book is about Nancy and Bree's exclusive explorer club - they collect leaves, watch birds and butterflies, and inspect insects. Before getting started,there a beautifully illustrated list of essentials & nonessentials needed to be an explorer extrordinaire

Club Rules: 1. map of territory (which limits on area they can explore)
2. Nobody in the club thinks bugs are gross.
3. No Touching: just looking
4. Crying is not allowed (unless a really good reason)
5. We never catch butterflies because they are fragile.
6. We don't pull leaves off trees,trees need them to make food

Rules 2 & 3 (pgs 8-13) the exploring gets scientific... physical features that make an insect an insect, anthill discovery & some sugar leads to brief overview of ant life, interesting facts about flies, benefits of lady bugs and spiders, and how spiders differ from insects.

Rules 4 & 5 (pgs 14-19) They move onto Mrs. Devine's flower garden full of butterflies. There are 3 different types of butterflies pictured. Butterfly life cycle illustration is too cute! Brief scientific information about butterflies being insects and their life cycle.... A Look Alike page to illustrate the differenct physical characteristics of butterflies and moths. Four types of wildflowers are pictured...all with fancy names.

(pgs 20-23)Lunchtime leads to discussion about birds and what makes birds special. There are 3 bird pics - pigeon, robin, sparrow. Then the girls go to their club house and learn fascinating facts about Hummingbirds(the official bird of their club).

Rule 6(pg.24) thru end: The previous night's storm knocked off leaves from deciduous tress (evergreens are also mentioned)for the girls to collect. There a 4 different leaves pictured. The younger girls find a baby robin. Nancy's Mom returns the baby to it's nest, and shares some interesting information about animals and their babies. It ends with Nancy and Bree voting on accepting 2 new memebers =)

EXTRA FUN FOR MOM AND DAUGHTER:

Recipe to make Nancy's Extra-Fancy Lemonade

Crafts (easy to make) - 2 bird feeders
- Lavish Leaf Crown

I love this book, it's great to be fancy and smart =) Highly recommend for ages 4 & up....I learned a lot too!! Read more ›

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Little Tough for the Youngest June 26, 2009

By Timothy Haugh TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I always enjoy the Fancy Nancy books and my daughter Nancy is always happy to have one read to her. We recently added this one to our collection. Like the rest of the series, it is a fun and worthwhile book; however, this one is a little tougher for the little ones.

As a parent and I teacher, I like this one a lot. It encourages kids to observe the world around them and teaches them how to be good and fairly scientific explorer. There's a lot of good information about insects, arachnids, and birds here, among other things. And, as always, Ms. Glasser's artworks pops off the page with its color and detail.

My only warning would be that this book is not as good as the others for the younger ones. My daughter just turned three and I think all the information is a little much for her. The story gets a bit subsumed by the teaching. In any case, she doesn't ask for this one like she does for the others. I'm sure that some day she'll appreciate this one much more, but it may take a few years.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Way better than I expected!! June 21, 2009

By JeFaMe

Format:Hardcover

Are you at times concerned about all the "fluff" that little girls are soaking up? Despite a better selection of intelligent, strong, heroic female characters out there for girls than "back in the day" when we were kids, there is often still present a message sent to girls that they should be pretty, stylish, popular, thin, etc.

Well, this is not an issue with Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire! After my daughters loved one of Fancy Nancy's sticker books this past winter (which had no educational value other than a few new vocabulary words), I was not sure about ordering them this book. I knew they'd love it, but I wasn't crazy about yet another "divas are cool" book. But, this one is nothing like that!! It is wonderful! I have never witnessed my 4-year-old and 2-year-old so engrossed in and engaged by a book. Without giving away the story, there's just tons of nature identification, facts to fascinate the young mind, and even activities offered. As another reviewer stated, it takes us a while to get through this book because it sparks so much conversation--questions my daughters ask, analogies they draw, anecdotes about their own experiences outdoors, observations about the great illustrations, and so on. I was really surprised by the primary focus on educational content while still retaining some of the "fancy" element that girls love. It's really a terrific book that refreshingly sends the message to the little wannabe Fancy Nancys that "knowing all about about science and nature is cool."