Janet Sumner Johnson's Blog, page 9

Top Five: Reasons for Lists

I love lists.

The older I've gotten the more I've come to rely on them. Just sitting at my desk and glancing at the plethora of sticky notes that surround me, I can find 8 lists. And those are just the ones that aren't buried under other lists.

To do lists, grocery lists, lists of people to send things to, lists of keyboard shortcuts (the ones I use just seldom enough that I forget between uses), lists of authors, lists of swag to make . . . SO MANY LISTS!

So today, I am making my TOP FIVE reasons for lists. (Yes, a list about lists! I love it!)

They make me feel accomplished. Sometimes, I put things like "shower" or "eat breakfast" on my To Do list just so I can feel more accomplished by crossing it off. Seriously, you should try it because crossing things off feels AWESOME! They take away my stress . For me, lists are better than a back massage. I get immediate results without actually doing anything! Plus, lists cost pennies (a bit of ink and a piece of paper) unlike back massages. And there goes some more stress as I think of all the $$$ I just saved! I forget less . Before I had kids, I rarely made lists or wrote things down. I could just remember. Not so anymore. And this is stressful (see #2)! I hate forgetting things. Feel HORRIBLE when I forget things. But with lists, the paper does all the remembering for me! Perfect. They are visual evidence to OTHERS of what I've accomplished . So my husband is really good about not asking "WHAT did you DO all day?" when he gets home and sees the mess that is our house (except right now. It's clean. Really. Well not my office, but the rest. For sure.). But if he did, I could just pull out my list and boom! Evidence. I did work. See how long that list is? . . . Hey! Honey! Yo. You don't need to read what's on the list. Legit procrastination tool . Sometimes I just don't want to do something. I don't! But I might feel guilty just doing nothing. So I make a list instead. It's brilliant! Not only am I doing something productive, but I'm finding reasons to put off that one thing that I really don't want to do. Clean the bathrooms, you say? Oh dear. My list tells me I need to read this book first. Sorry. It's on the list! So there you have it. My top five. Now, why do you love lists?

Books! Glorious Books! (Kiribati Library Project Update)

Books! Glorious books! (And yes, I'm totally singing that in my head).

Over the last couple of weeks, packages of books have been trickling in for our Kiribati Library Project. Boxes crammed full of books. Books signed to the students in Kiribati by authors. Recent releases. Old classics. It has been beautiful to see!


 

   And it's not done yet. Capstone (my publisher) contacted me, and they're sending a box, too! I am so thrilled, I just can't even express it.

Last Tuesday, an unexpected delivery from Amazon arrived on our doorstep. Someone who had already sent us a big box of books had the entire Harry Potter series sent.

 Guys, I was crying! When I wrote to thank her, this is what she said:

"The idea that we can introduce kids to these character and the worlds created on the page is pretty much my happy place."

And I think she pretty much captured why I'm doing this. What an amazing thought! The Harry Potter series has given me countless hours of joy. And she will be giving that to these kids.

This will be my last call for donations (so back to regular programing starting next week). For those interested, you can either donate money at our GoFundMe account, or you can donate books. Just use the Contact Me tab for information on where to send them.

Since that first post, I have received a wish list of books from the library. We have received a few on the list, but I wanted to post it in case it inspires anyone out there to join in our cause.

That said, if you have books to donate that are not on this list, that is great, too! But this gives a good picture of the types of things they are looking for.

Thank you again for reading this post and for all the sharing and donations and well-wishes we've received on this project. Imagining these books in the hands of these students makes me so happy. Thank you!

Kiribati Library Project Wishlist

Middle Reading:    
Goosebumps Books All Series                                              R. L. StineHardy Boys Series                                                                   Franklin W. Dixon
Nancy Drew Series                                                                  Carolyn Keene
The Littles Series                                                                     John Peterson
Ramona Series                                                                         Beverly Cleary
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles                                        Patricia C. Wrede
Betsy-Tacy Books                                                                    Maud Hart Lovelace
The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party       Shannon Hale
Matilda                                                                                     Roald Dahl
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret                                Judy Blume
Harriet the Spy                                                                        Louise Fitshugh
The Chocolate War                                                                 Robert Cormier

Young Adult Series:
Harry Potter Series                                                                  J. K. RowlingThe Hunger Game Series                                                       Suzanne Collins
    (Need Hunger Games and Mockingjay)
The Lord of the Rings                                                             J.R.R. TolkienThe Giver Series                                                                      Lois Lowry
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy                                 Douglas Adam
Anne of Green Gable Series                                                 L.M. Montgomery
Graceling Series                                                                      Christine Cashore
The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants Series                           Ann Brashares
Uglies Series                                                                            Scott Westerfeld
Twilight Series                                                                         Stephenie Meyer
Earthsea Series                                                                        Ursula K. Le GuinThe Princess Diary Series                                                       Meg Cabot
Song of the Lioness series                                                     Tamora Pierce
Vampire Academy                                                                  Richelle Mead
Fable Haven                                                                             Brandon Mull
The Goose Girl series                                                             Shannon Hale
The Princess Academy series                                                Shannon Hale
     (Need book 2 and 3)
Ever After High                                                                        Shannon Hale
Daughter of the Lioness / Tricksters series                        Tamora Pierce
Percy Jackson series                                                               Rick Riordan
The Red Pyramid Series                                                         Rick Riordan
The Chronicles of Narnia                                                       C.S. Lewis
Leviathan series                                                                      Scott Westerfeld
His Dark Material Series                                                        Philip Pullman
The Mortal Instruments series                                            Cassandra Clare
Fallen series                                                                            Lauren Kate
Septimus Heap Series                                                            Angie Sage
The Maze Runner series                                                        James Dashner
Crank series                                                                             Ellen Hopkins
Matched series                                                                        Ally Condie
Discworld / Tiffany Aching series                                        Terry Pratchett
Chaos Walking series                                                             Patrick Ness
Circle of Magic series                                                             Tamora Pierce
Wrinkle in Time Series                                                           Madeleine L’Engle
Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry Series                                     Mildred Taylor
     (Need Let the Circle Be unbroken, and The Road to Memphis)
Chronicles of Prydain                                                              Lloyd Alexander
Young Adult Books:
The Fault in our Stars                                                              John GreenLooking for Alaska                                                                   John Green
The Hobbit                                                                                J.R.R. Tolkien
The Catcher in the Rye                                                           J.D. Salinger
To Kill a Mockingbird                                                              Harper Lee
The Book Thief                                                                         Markus Zusak
The Outsiders                                                                           S.E. Hinton
The Princess Bride                                                                   William Goldman
Thirteen Reasons Why                                                            Jay Asher
The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Nighttime                 Mark Haddon
Stargirl                                                                                        Jerry Spinelli
The House on Mango Street                                                   Sandra Cisneros
The Truth About Forever                                                         Sarah Dessen
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane                          Kate DiCamillo
Tuck Everlasting                                                                        Natalie Babbitt
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian                 Sherman Alexie
13 Little Blue Envelopes                                                           Maureen Johnson
It's Kind of a Funny Story                                                         Ned Vizzini
Just Listen                                                                                   Sarah Dessen
A Ring of Endless Light                                                             Madeleine L'Engle
Before I Fall                                                                                Lauren Oliver
Unwind                                                                                        Neal Shusterman
The Last Unicorn                                                                        Peter S. Beagle
If I Stay                                                                                         Gayle Forman
The Blue Sword                                                                          Robin McKinley
The Hero and the Crown                                                          Robin McKinley
Beauty                                                                                         Robin McKinley
I Am the Messenger                                                                   Markus Zusak
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous                                                    Beatrice Sparks
Daughter of Smoke & Bone                                                     Laini Taylor
The House of the Scorpion                                                      Nancy Farmer
Wintergirls                                                                                  Laurie Halse Anderson
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States                            Sarah Vowell
Holes                                                                                           Louis Sachar
The Phantom Tollbooth                                                           Norton Juster
The Diary of Anne Frank                                                          Otto Frank
Wonder                                                                                       R. J. Palacio
Out of My Mind                                                                         Sharon M. Draper
Bridge to Terabithia                                                                  Katherine Patterson
Jacob Have I loved                                                                     Katherine Patterson
A Separate Peace                                                                       John Knowles
Hatchet                                                                                        Gary Paulsen
Princess Bride                                                                             William Goldman
The Westing Game                                                                    Ellen Raskin
Number the Stars                                                                       Lois Lowery
Boxers and Saints                                                                       Gene Luen Yag
The Lost Conspiracy                                                                   Francise Hardinge
Esperanza Rising                                                                         Pam Munoz Ryan
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh                                            Robert C. Obrian
The invention of Hugo Cabret                                                  Brian Selznick

A Bit of Good: Update on the Library Project

With all the terrible things that have happened throughout the world over the past few days, it can be easy to forget that there is good in the world, too. While I know it doesn't change what happened, or fix things for those who are suffering right now, I want to tell you about a little of that goodness.

Last week I reached out to you--to the world of social media. I didn't know what to expect, but you all blew me away between the sharing of my post, the offers to send books, and the monetary donations. I haven't received the books yet, so I can't show you a picture of that, but here's a peek at the GoFundMe page:


People are good and kind and generous. They reach out to strangers. They offer help in the ways they can. People I didn't even know donated money. People I've never met are shipping off books.

Thank you! Thank you so much for being you. For being generous humans who spread good in the world. Thank you! I can't express how touched I've been at your support.

For any who would still like to participate, we will be collecting books and donations over the next couple of months. For more information, please visit the original post that explains it all.

Now, one more thing. My 11-yo wanted to write in support of the cause, and I promised I would post it for him:

Dear readers,                                                                                          Hello. To you readers, I ask you this, how would you feel if you had almost no books to read? I would feel devastated, it would make me less curious, although that might not sound bad to you, take some time to imagine what that amounts to: . . . now that you have thought about it, I hope you realize the full gravity of helping those children on Kiribati.                 Imagine how thankful they'll feel to have such a great gift to enjoy and share. I hope you know to expect nothing but an unseen and unheard thank you along with the knowledge that you helped someone besides yourself.                 I sincerely hope now that you will help those children.                                                            Signed,                                                             11-yo. J. 

Before I leave you, I want to give a heard and seen THANK YOU for your help.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
You ARE making a difference in these kids' lives.

A Sad Little Library and a Call For Help

Those of you who know me well know that my parents left on a religious mission just over a year ago about a month after they retired.

Before retirement, my Mom was an elementary school principal and my dad was a high school engineering and science teacher. So it was only fitting that in their service, they went to work in a high school on a tiny island in the Pacific called Kiribati.

While their main purpose is to train the teachers and help them pass the certification testing (Mom and Dad, correct me if I'm wrong!), they also do all kinds of other things such as helping students fill out applications for college, judging school competition events, overseeing the computer lab, and most recently evaluating the school library to determine its needs.

This last duty is what I wanted to talk about to you today.

You see, the state of that school library makes me sad. They sent pictures, and I want to share those with you. This first one is a picture of their fiction book shelves:

Oh my goodness, just so much emptiness.

And not only are the shelves empty, but many of the books they have aren't age appropriate and are falling apart.


Now, I love the Berenstain Bears, and I love Madeline, but they are not the books I would choose to put in a high school library.

This is not something I could let go. I read their blog post early Sunday morning, and I couldn't stop thinking about this library.

It didn't take long to decide that my family and I would work together to collect some books and send a package. But you saw that picture. The package we could send would make nary a dent in the library's needs.

And then I got to thinking that maybe others would like to help, too. Because you are my people. You understand how important books are. You understand their power and influence. You understand the impact a book can have on a teen. You understand how important it is to offer a wide variety of books to get our youth on that path of reading. You understand the satisfaction that comes from finding that book . . . the one that speaks to you and changes your life.

And that is why I'm asking for your help today. There are several ways you can help:

 If  you have any gently used or new books that would be appropriate for middle or high schoolers and which you would be willing to send to me, please contact me using the Contact Me tab above (or just click on that link).If you don't have any books to send, but would be willing to donate money to the cause, I have set up a GoFundMe account. I will use any donated funds to both buy books and help pay for the shipping costs (which are HUGE). Even a dollar donation will make a difference!If you have no extra money or books to share, I totally get that. I have been there (man, have I been there). What you can do is spread the word! Share this post on twitter or facebook. That would be a huge help!I plan to send a shipment (or 2 or 3 or however many I'm able) at the beginning of December in hopes that they will arrive before the start of their next school year (Jan/Feb). 
Seriously, if you can't help, please don't feel even the teensiest bit of guilt. We can't all do everything, and there are a lot of great causes out there. I appreciate that you are here reading my blog post, and I appreciate your friendship.
Thank you for listening, now go forth and have a great day!

Top 5 Writing Things I learned from the Royals

I recently moved from Kansas City. If you're not into baseball, you may not have heard, but this little thing called the World Series just took place, and GUESS WHO WON!!!

The Kansas City Royals!!!!
 KC Union Station's Celebratory Facebook Post: Link here
So I know, I know. Many of you writing types may not really care that the Royals won the World Series. And that's okay. I still love you. In fact, I haven't always been a baseball fan myself - but last year's team converted me.

I have learned so many things from the Royals and everything that came from both last year's World Series and this year's. And the really great thing?  It ALL APPLIES TO WRITING (goodness, it applies to LIFE). So here is my top 5 list of things I learned from the Royals:

1. It's not over till it's over (aka NEVER GIVE UP).

I may be beating a dead horse here, because I feel like I talk about this All. The Time. But it's true! The Royals set all kinds of records this postseason with this mentality. Take Game 5. Down by 2 going into the ninth. They come back to tie and send the game to extra innings (where they WIN)!

Or take Game 4. Down by 1 in the top of the 8th. They score 3 runs!

Or take this stat: In the post season alone, the Royals scored 51 runs in the 7th inning or later. 51!! The last time a team even came close to that was back in 2002 (the Anaheim Angels with 36).

DON'T GIVE UP, my friends! Just don't.

2. You can lose and still win (I know! doesn't sound possible, does it?).

This is circa last year's World Series. It was so hard to make it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series and then come away with a loss. (So Mets fans, we feel your pain! We really do). But despite that loss, that team - just a bunch a young guys who no one expected to even get to the play-offs, let alone the World Series, whose game and efforts were all heart - that team brought a whole city together.

It's really hard to describe if you aren't there. But everyone was united in their love for the Royals. Everyone. People who had never watched baseball before, watched baseball. We were high-fiving strangers in the streets, chatting up the amazing plays, comparing notes and plans for where to watch the next one. And wait did I say "strangers"? It was like the word "strangers" didn't even exist!) All extra-curricular activities that got in the way of a game was cancelled, which everyone was happy about. It. Was. Awesome.

We may have lost the World Series last year, but we gained so much more. And the same is true for writing. You may have gotten a rejection. But that rejection will push you to be better (if you let it). You are that much closer to a YES, and all the while, your writing is improving. You win, because you are still trying.

3. A series of small successes (plays) can lead to HUGE THINGS.

This Royals team is not about huge plays and homeruns and star players. Nope. It was about teamwork. About getting a guy on base and then getting another guy on base until someone made it home. It was about sacrificing yourself to get your teammate across the plate.

Of course, Perez (who is awesome!) got the MVP, because an MVP has to be given. But  that MVP could have gone to any of them. And did you know that every single player on the team contributed? They all played. Every last one player on that post-season roster. And that is not always the case.

The point is, you don't need to be writing best-sellers or getting the million dollar advances to succeed. Every single little success along the way adds us. Sell an article to a magazine? Celebrate your success! Get a request from an agent? Celebrate your success! Slow and steady wins the race.

4. Sometimes, you have to take a risk.

Just one word. Hosmer. Holy cow, that baserunning!! What guts! And if you missed it. Ninth inning of Game 5. We are down by two. Hosmer gets a double RBI then gets to third on a groundout. Perez is up to bat and hits one straight to the Wright, the 3rd baseman, who stares down Hosmer before throwing an out to 1st.

But oh no. Hosmer was NOT stared down. As soon as Wright turns to throw, Hosmer is off! And the 1st baseman is caught off guard and guess who scores to tie the game??? Ninth inning, two outs. Hosmer takes the risk!

I have read plenty of critiques of that play: Hosmer's lucky the throw was bad. He shouldn't have done it, but I guess it worked out. Haha! Life is sometimes a risk. Let me tell you a quick story about the guy who didn't take the risk in Game 7 of last year's World Series. Ninth inning, down by one, two outs. SO. MANY. PARALLELS. The guy stayed on 3rd and guess what? We lost.

Writing is a risk. Putting yourself out there is a risk. But it is worth it. Be fearless, my friends!

5. Niceness is always a thing. Everyone roots for the nice guys.

One of the reasons I have loved watching the Royals so much is because the players, the team . . . they are straight up nice. Even people who weren't Royal's fans were rooting for them. And it was because they were nice. And because their fans were nice. (And yes, there are always exceptions, in case you know that one not nice fan. But you get my point.)

Be nice. Treat people nicely. Editors. Agents. Other Writers. Fans. Not fans. Everyone. You will always come out the better for it.

If you made it this far, thanks for letting me rave about my Royals! Do you watch baseball? Did I miss any lessons in there??

The Learning Curve of Publishing

It's no secret that I've been on this ride of wanting to be published for a long time. And the longer you are in something, the more you learn about it. Bit by bit you gather information and before long you are no longer a newbie.

By the time I found my agent, I was quite expert at drafting query letters. I knew the best places to track the query letters I sent to agents (querytracker.net in case anyone was wondering). I knew what writing conferences I liked best. I knew what to expect timing wise, and I was the one answering questions for those newbies who had just joined the fray.

Now that I'm on the next step of the publishing journey, I am horrified to discover that I have to start over as a newbie. Only this time, the learning curve is much, MUCH steeper since there is an actual deadline for things (oh the forgotten joy of not having a deadline!).

My head is spinning as I try to figure out marketing, and how to get my name out there and get on panels and accepted as a presenter at conferences. And let's not forget school visits, and swag, and websites. Writing tag lines. Writing author bios. Writing discussion questions. Figuring out author pictures and poses. And of course navigating the world of communicating with my publisher and editor and all the people involved there (who are fortunately very lovely people!).
 The things is, I'd read so many blog posts from debut authors as they navigated the publishing world, and I'd learned so much about school visits and marketing, etc. And I had notes from conference presentations on such topics. I felt so prepared. I was SO ready for the next step! I just knew I would make it through with ease.
So I'm left scratching my head about what went wrong.  And the only thing I can come up with is that having a book published is a bit like becoming a parent for the first time. You can read all kinds of books to prepare yourself. People will tell you all kinds of truths and horror stories about "what it's really like." But it doesn't matter. The only thing that really helps you understand what it's like to be a parent is to actually BE A PARENT. And then suddenly you get it! Not that it's suddenly easy or that you suddenly know everything. But you get it. You get how hard and complicated and unpredictable it all is. And all you can do is your best. You keep trying every day, and you learn new things. Sometimes it feels like you'll never be as good as those other parents you see at PTA meetings and stuff, and sometimes it feels like you're failing miserably.  But you aren't.  Because HEY! You're doing it! And none of that other stuff matters. What matters is that you're trying. Because despite what Yoda says, there really is such a thing. (And yes, this is absolutely what I tell myself when I'm feeling overwhelmed by it all . . . which is at least once a month . . . okay, weekly . . . fine! I meant daily. DAILY. Okay?? Satisfied?!) ;)

My Cover Reveal Day!!!

Today is the day!!!

The happy-dancing, random-screaming, exclamation-filled day that is otherwise known as my COVER REVEAL day!!


via GIPHY

So one interesting tid-bit before you head over to Pop! Goes The Reader to see what it looks like (finally!!!) . . .

A secret I've been holding for a while is that Amazon has a picture of my book on its site. BUT it IS NOT THE FINAL COVER. No. You have to got to Pop! Goes The Reader for that. I don't know when it will be fixed to the final cover, but if you want to see what the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) cover looks like, you can check out Amazon, too. (And eeep! If you happen to want to pre-order it, it's now available for pre-order!)

Okay, okay, I will detain you no longer! Go forth! Check out my beautiful book cover that I'm totally in love with at Pop! Goes The Reader.

And while you're there, don't forget to enter for a chance to win an ARC of THE LAST GREAT ADVENTURE OF THE PB&J SOCIETY by moi, Janet Sumner Johnson.

The Things I Don't Know (aka Weird Research)

Writing books has been the most humbling experience of my life for so many reasons. SO. MANY. But today, I'll just talk about one: The things I don't know!

Oh, the things are vast, and many.

Silly things.
Important things.
Interesting things.
Things I SHOULD know.
Things I know I learned once upon a time.

Some of these things can be easily researched online. Some require experts (Hellooo Dr. Husband, you have been a life saver!). Sometimes I find a book on the subject. Some things require good hard study and mathematical equations (and then I'm back to seeking expert help . . . hellooo Father and Sister Mathematicians!! You're the best!).

So before I bore you to death, here are some of the things I have had to research in the name of writing, though I won't tell you why (bwahaha!):
The shortest number of moves with which you can win at chessThe history of cameras (Brownie's, etc.)The history of Peanut ButterPirate clothingNames and types of knives/swordsRegional names (first and last, for various regions)How 911 dispatchers answer the phone (and no, I DID NOT call 911 to find out)What EMT's do when they arrive on the sceneWhat substances on the periodic table are most unstableWeird science experimentsScience experiments/substance combinations that might cause explosions (And everytime I did a search, I worried the NSA would be after me! Book research, I swear!)How to qualify for a Nobel Prize (including nomination process and timeframe)The Randall Sundrum model of string theory (it's actually pretty fascinating!)Horse grooming techniquesNames of horse parts and wagon/carriage partsTime it would take to travel to the moon/marsCalculating rocket paths for meeting an object in spaceHow tasers workSubstances that are bad for dogsMethods for extracting the essence of somethingSnowboarding terms/skillsFamous snowboardersHow to qualify for the Olympics as a snowboarderOfficial rules of croquetAnyway, I could go on for a good long while. So many things I don't know! And fascinating to discover that writing isn't only about English and Grammar. Wasn't I wishing I'd taken a few more math classes?

So how about you? Are you an expert in any of the above (And if so, please inform me so I can pick your brain!)? Do you want to learn about any of these things? What is the weirdest research you've ever done?

Books from my Childhood

I've been reading the Harry Potter series to my kids, and it's been awesome. And not just because I can get them to do their chores with the promise of reading another chapter. They've loved it!

But doing so has really brought back memories of my childhood. Curled up on the floor or in my bed, listening to my mom read stories to us. I even remember staying home sick from high school (HIGH SCHOOL !!!), and laying on the couch listening to her read to me. She has been a long-time lover of children's literature, and I directly attribute my obsession with it to her.

-----> This is me way back then, so you can better imagine me sitting on my mom's lap, listening to stories.---->

There weren't nearly as many choices back then, but what there was, she found them. I wanted to mention a few, because not only have all of these amazing books have influenced who I am, but these authors were the pioneers that made what I'm doing even possible.

As a little kid, my mom read picture books to us. A few stand out in my memory as ones we made her and my dad read over and over and over. THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS BOOK by Jon Stone was the BEST.

Fear of the unknown was a real thing for me back then. (Okay, it still is.) I remember hating to go downstairs on my own, because WHO KNEW what might come out of that big pot-belled wood-burning stove down there??? And it was dark. And it smelled funny. And the carpet had this crazy brown and orange pattern that could start spinning and might HYPNOTIZE me, and what would I do then???

Point being, I got Grover. I understood! I sympathized with his fears. But I still laughed every time we turned that page, and the story got messier and messier, and the pages got rattier and rattier (both figuratively and literally because we read that book so much). I LOVED being part of the story. It was all so real. Even though of course I knew it wasn't.

And I don't want to ruin the ending for any of you who might not have read it (and if so, watch out for the Goodreads link above . . . they aren't so careful), but this book made me braver. It helped me step up my courage, and you know what? I dared go downstairs on my own (okay, maybe not at night, but baby steps, people). I dared press forward into the unknown. Because lets face it. Life is full of A LOT of unknown. This book was a real part of my childhood. One that influenced me big time. So thank you, Jon Stone for writing it! Thank you, Sesame Street Creators for making such a great character!

And I realize this is all going to take more space than one blog post can handle, so I'll just have to blog about this again. In the mean time, tell me about a book that influenced your childhood. I'd love to hear!

Fancy Nancy Festivities (a fancy word for "parties")

I was first introduced to Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor almost 6 years ago when I discovered the original book on display in the library. Even though I was never a Fancy Nancy, I thought it was brilliant! My daughter was an infant at the time, but I read it to her (and my boys who also thought it was very fun).


And who knew that my daughter would turn out to be the fanciest of Nancies?

So when my local library threw a Fancy Nancy party, I was all over that. And so was my daughter.

We RSVP'd, and my daughter dressed up in her fanciest clothes. She even borrowed a hat from our neighbor.


At the party we decorated tiaras.


We ate cookies and punch.


We listened to Fancy Nancy books.


And when it was over, we decided that we simply must throw a Fancy Nancy party of our own. The plans are in the works.

What I love about this book is that it encourages individualism, and that it finds a sneaky and fun way to introduce new vocabulary. Kids are tricked into learning! It doesn't get much better than that. ;)

How about you? Who is one of your favorite characters from a book?