Title: Fancy NANCY-The 100th Day of School
Author: Jane O’Connor
Photographer: Robinson Preiss Glasser
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genre: Children’s fiction
Age Level: 6-9
Theme: Fun, Imaginative ideas, intelligence, artistic, and determination to fulfill a personal dream.
Synopsis: The book is about 11 children who were supposed to bring some unique projects of the same object to mark their 100th day of school. The object for the project was meant to be 1000. They were to bring the complete project to class on their 100th day of school. Before the due date for their project, some of the children showed to the teacher what they wanted to use for their projects. Bree put 100 feathers on a hat and it looked so elegant. Robert knew what to bring on that day, stamp album with 100 stamps in it. Yoko showed her transparent piggy bank with 100 pennies. Lionel made a ball out of 100 rubber bands to bring on the 100th day of school. Three other children did stuff with macaroni to bring as well. On the 97th day of school, Nancy had not been able to decide what to bring so she was in a dilemma. She told her teacher about her dilemma; the teacher tried to calm Nancy’s anxiety and assured her not to worry with the hope that before the next three days, Nancy would be able to think of something full of good ideas. On the 98th day of school, more kids brought in stuff, a bag with 100 marbles, a jar with 100 jelly beans, and a box with 100 crayons. Yet, Nancy had thought of nothing. Her parents suggested using fifty pairs of socks for her project but those were not her choice. She wanted something imaginative and fancy so she ended up writing a poem about her goldfish that died on her 98th day of school and showed it to her teacher. Her teacher liked the poem because Nancy used interesting words and the poem was in verse: Goldy was gold. For a fish, she was old. She liked to swim, so she stayed slim. You can’t kiss a fish. But you can miss a fish. At home, Nancy used her imaginative idea to draw a picture of Goldy in her bowl on a poster with the words, “There are 100 pebbles in the fishbowl.” She spelt out Goldy’s name in glitter. She decorated the poster with her markers and it looked pretty. So Nancy made it just on time bringing her poster on the 100th day of school. The 100th Day of school is an invented story but it helps children to be creative both in writing and art.
About the author: Jane O’Connor was born, and bred in New York City. She still lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her family and their canine companion. Her book, Fancy Nancy, remained on the New York Times picture book list for ninety-eight weeks. O’Connor finds writing for adult much harder, but she had fund and novel experience of finally writing some sex scenes. She is married and considers her husband, Jim, a relative newcomer to NYC even after thirty-five years of marriage. Her book, the Fancy Nancy- The 100th Day of School was published in 2009.
About the photographer: Robin Preiss Glasser is an illustrator. She is a wife, and she has sold more than 1 million copies of the book. “I then had the opportunity to illustrate beloved radio star Garrison Keillor’s Dady’s Girl and award-winning poet Elizabeth Garton Scanlon’s A Sock Is a Pocket for Your Toe, before being paired, in 2005, with author Jane O’Connor for the life-changing (for me!), first in the Fancy Nancy series..” 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, but Robin lives with her family in southern California
Pre-reading activities: Each student will think of what to use for her/his art project. They will come up with different ideas and choose the one they like best. Students who have hard time of choosing what to do should not be worried. The children will bring examples of what they want to do so that other children who find it difficult to choose their projects will have ideas. No project will be considered good or bad. They will learn to be more creative as they decide by themselves on what to do. They will be asked to write a brief poem about their project, and they will be asked to use their imaginative to complete their project.
Post-reading activities: Student will compare their work and they will be asked question about their projects. Questions such as, how they felt about the project when they started will be asked as well. They will also be asked to volunteer to share with the class on how they carried out their projects. No ideas will be considered better than the other because every child learns differently. There will be a class discussion as whether they would like to do another project of their choices before the end of the semester. Children will be affirmed for their efforts in completing the project.
Reflection: I thought the book was a good one because it prepares children to be more creative and foresighted. It helps develop their talents as they do personal project. It shows that some children learn faster than the others, and sometimes, people who are slow in learning do a better job as it happened to Nancy in the book. Children who read this book will grow to be mature, responsible, and imaginative. This book is good for children because it will help them to improve and become confident, and it will also encourage their interests and abilities. I recommend this book to parents in order to help their children improve and become more confident.
Works cited: Jane O'Connor, More Books
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