Customer Reviews

Fancy Nancy Sees Stars (I Can Read Book 1)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book does a very nice job of staying faithful to the original Fancy Nancy concept while making the language appropriate for a Level 1 early reader. The plot of this one is also pretty well-developed and very nice for an early reader -- there's a lot more there for a little kid to enjoy than I've found typical at this level.

However, the "fancy words" in the Fancy Nancy concept makes it a little odd to use as an early reader. At level 1, they should be reading with a parent anyway, but the fancy words would be really hard to decode, even for kids reading a Level 3 or 4 of a series like this. I like that they put a little glossary of the fancy words and their definitions in the back -- in this book they are alfresco, brilliant, constellation, fascinating, meteor, orbit and planetarium.

They bring in what seems to be a recurring Fancy Nancy theme of making the best of a less-than-perfect situation, and turning a disappointment into a nice moment with her family when the trip to the planetarium goes awry.

Overall, I like this book, and think it's a great early reader, as long as parents are ok with sitting down and helping with the "fancy words."

Fancy Nancy Sees Stars has several nice features:

1. The story contains enough interesting material to make a child want to see a planetarium show and study the stars outdoors.

2. When difficulties arise (a late baby sitter, a rain storm, traffic, and a flooded road), there's a reasonable solution.

3. The drawings are well done and decidedly humorous (good for gaining the interest of a young reader).

The book also has some drawbacks:

1. Some of the vocabulary is beyond a beginning reader (alfresco, constellation, planetarium).

2. The definitions of the vocabulary sometimes aren't very good (planetarium--a museum about stars and planets; orbit--to circle around something; meteor--a piece of a comet that leaves a blazing streak as it travels across the sky; fascinating--very interesting).

3. The vocabulary could have been beefed up with words that children would find more useful and easier to understand within the same theme (moon, Mars, Venus, space, vacuum).

But if your future astronomer is fascinated by the stars, this will be a good book. Just be sure that you correct the definitions for your child.

My daughter was born in March, 2002. She's now 6 and a half. We didn't discover Fancy Nancy until Feb 2007, so she was about 5. It's been a little disappointing for this series to come out as she is outgrowing it. The stories are cute but a little simple for a first grader.

Although "The Boy from Paris" and "...at the Museum" were good, this book just seems more advanced. I am hoping that Ms. O'Connor will write a few books aging Nancy as the authors of Junie B. Jones and Katie Kazoo have done. We'd like to keep the illustrations while progressing to more challenging reading. (Although, her books are all great at introducing new words!)

This is one of many of the Fancy Nancy series that my granddaughter has. This wasn't quite as funny as some but equally enchanting if you like the series. As always, the books from Amazon arrive in a timely manner and perfect condition.

This is a sweet, simple story for beginning readers. Nothing too "fancy" here, but the illustrations are great as always, and I love how Nancy turns a disappointment into an opportunity. My 4.5 year old enjoyed this, but I haven't seen her reaching for it with much regularity.

This latest visit with the ebullient Fancy Nancy involves a class trip to a planetarium. Nancy, being such a sparkling star herself, can't wait to go. The idea of seeing planets and constellations appeals to her boundless sense of imagination. She and her friend Robert prepare for the evening by putting glow-in-the-dark stickers in the shape of constellations on their shirts, and baking star-shaped cookies. The kids orbit (a fancy word for spin in a circle) until they are dizzy. Later a rainstorm ruins their plans, but Nancy has a brilliant (a fancy word for very smart) idea: They'll hold their own night sky show! Using beach chairs and candles, Nancy, Robert and the whole family watch the sky for stars, planets and constellations. After Nancy makes a wish on a "shooting star" -- not a star at all, but instead a meteor, as she correctly points out -- Nancy finds out that the planetarium visit has been rescheduled. Her wish comes true!

Nancy is as cute as ever, with her curlicue ringlets and girly clothes. Nancy's teacher Ms. Glass (a model for teachers everywhere!) is enthusiastic and funky with a purple streak in her hair.

I'm all for more science for kids. The "fancy words" in this beginning reader book include brilliant, constellation, meteor, orbit and planetarium. Not bad!

My only quibble is with the illustrations inside the book. Instead of being by Robin Preiss Glasser, like the cover, they are done by someone else, Ted Enik. Granted, they are "pictures based on the art of Robin Preiss Glasser," but overall they are sketchier and not as charming.

Some Fancy Nancy books that exclusively use Robin's art are Fancy Nancy, Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly (Fancy Nancy), Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words and Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy.

Unlike other Fancy Nancy titles, the cover does not have glittery sparkles on the artwork and letters.

Nancy is all excited because they are going to take a nighttime class trip to the planetarium. She just loves stars. Mrs. Glass, her teacher asked all kinds of questions about stars. There were pictures of the constellations on the wall and she was very anxious to see them. Robert, her friend, was going with her on this trip. They got on their T-shirts with glow in the dark stickers, spun the planet mobile and even baked star cookies. YUM!

Things started to go wrong. The babysitter was late and when they got in the car it started to rain. It rained and rained and the traffic was so bad they missed the sky show. "Drip, drip, drip go my tears. Robert and I are so sad. We do not even want any cookies." It was such a sad event to miss out on the class field trip, but as a consolation prize they watched the skies in their backyard. Wait, there goes a shooting star . . . now Nancy could make a wish. What would she wish for and would her wish come true?

True to form there are some "fancy" words in this Fancy Nancy book. This one is a bit different as it is not only an easy-to-read book, but also a primer on astronomy. Nancy and Robert learn about constellations, meteors, orbits, planetariums and star formations and the reader will learn right along with them. This Fancy Nancy was not quite as fun nor as silly as some of the others, but will most likely be enjoyed by its fans and perhaps picked up by those wishing to introduce a bit of astronomy in the homeschool or classroom setting.

I read the original Fancy Nancy book to my nieces, and, at the time, thought that the effect of Nancy stopping every other word to explain that "That's a fancy word for so-and-so" was a little annoying. Having now read several of the early readers, I can honestly say that it is MUCH less annoying when you're not the one reading the book aloud!

My niece (who is six and entering the first grade in a week!) found this book easy enough to read with only a little help from me. Help largely consisted of asking her to sound out a word a second time, asking her if the sentence "makes sense" the way she read it, or asking if she's SURE she saw a d (or b, or w) in that word. There were a few words I had to read *for* her, but not more than I'd expect from this style of book. However, it should be noted that she was one of the better readers in her kindergarten class.

The "fancy" words in this book range from the more useful (planetarium) to the more obscure (al fresco). I will note that this book writes "al fresco" as one word, which is very annoying for the simple reason that it is wrong.

I will also note that there are an awful lot of sentences on each page. This is a good book for kids in the later stage of "beginning readers", I think, not in the very early stage.

Fancy Nancy is a series of stories about a little girl, who dreams of being 'fancy,' and her adventures. She is quirky and cute, with a normal family, and she tries to teach the reader some 'fancy' words or great vocabulary along the way. It can be a little awkward to read as she tries to explain 'fancy' words, but I like the concept of helping increase a child's vocabulary. I also think Nancy's love of all things 'fancy' such as princess tiaras appeals to most little girls in the 2-6 age range.

This book is for an early reader but could also be read aloud to a younger child. Nancy tries to take a trip to the planetarium, but when weather stops the trip, she has an adventure checking out the stars with her family instead. A pleasant read.

my girls love the fancy nancy series and could not wait to receive this book. although we are now overseas in kuwait, the delivery time did not reflect this and the wait was not long.