Peanut Butter and Jellyfish

Fancy Nancy

by Jane O'Connor, Robin Preiss Glasser (Illustrator), Ted Enik (Illustrator)

With the help of Ms. Glass and her friends, Nancy overcomes her fear of jellyfish during a class trip to the aquarium, and she makes a special project for her teacher to say thank you. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Leveled Readers is an imprint of Spotlight, a division of ABDO.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Kids

32 pages, Library Binding

First published December 31, 2014

About the author

Since the publication of Fancy Nancy, Jane O'Connor's closet now boasts so many boas, tiaras, and sparkly ensembles that sometimes friends do not recognize her on the street. She still resides (that's a fancy word for lives) in New York City with her family and their canine companion, Arrow. --from the publisher's website

Reviews

[La Coccinelle]

Nancy and her class take a trip to the aquarium where they see all sorts of interesting creatures. But when they get to the jellyfish exhibit, Nancy doesn't want to look. She detests jellyfish because she was once stung by one, and she can't bring herself to look at them. But once her teacher explains a little bit about jellyfish, Nancy comes to realize that the jellyfish that stung her wasn't out to get her, and perhaps they're not so bad after all.

I like the message about overcoming fear with knowledge, and the illustrations are as cute as always. But this book might seem a little dated (even though it's only from 2014) because of the peanut issue. Nancy is portrayed as sitting with her classmates while eating her lunch of PB&J, celery with peanut butter, and peanut butter cookies. Later, she makes a diorama for her teacher using peanut butter in place of sand. This would be in violation of a lot of today's schools' no-nuts policies, so I'm not sure showing a child building a potentially deadly diorama and taking it to school is the best thing! (I suppose this book could open up an interesting discussion about food allergies.)

It's a cute story, but perhaps one that would've been more appropriate for a previous generation, before so many kids had to carry EpiPens to keep from dying in the cafeteria.

Quotable moment:

[Lorellie]

Nancy meets the aquarium. The art style really shines here and the story is a particularly engaging one.

[Lisa]

Fancy Nancy goes on a class trip to an aquarium. She is interested until they reach the Jellyfish. Why doesnt she like them? In this book we learn some facts about Jellyfish and Nancy Just might change her mind about them.

back cover--Join Fancy Nancy on an exciting trip to the aquarium in this Fancy Nancy I Can Read story from New York Times bestselling team Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser.

During a class trip to the aquarium, Fancy Nancy is enjoying all the incredible sea creatures—that is until she comes to the jellyfish exhibit! With the help of Ms. Glass and her friends, Nancy learns to overcome her fear of jellyfish, and she makes her teacher a special project to say thank you. Fans of Fancy Nancy will delight as they experience the fun of sea life right alongside Nancy.

[Becky B]

Fancy Nancy and her class are off to the aquarium for a field trip. Fancy Nancy is excited, except for the jellyfish exhibit. Fancy Nancy was stung by a jellyfish in the past and wants nothing to do with them now. Her teacher helps her overcome her fear and see how fabulous jellyfish can be.

A good read before a visit to the aquarium or for someone who wants to learn about jellyfish. There are many solid scientific jellyfish facts in here kids can pick up from the story. Have some diorama-making materials on hand for crafty kids who want to make one like Fancy Nancy does at the end of the story. Recommended for curious kids, Fancy Nancy fans who are beginning readers (though they may need some help with her fancy words), and science classes.

[Rose Rosetree]

Here's one way to learn about sea life. Why make this book about science when your guides could be Fancy Nancy, plus her friends Clara and Bree? All of three of them are dressed up like empty-headed fashionistas, but with adorable hair.

Fancy Nancy is fine with all sea creatures— until she discovers a fear of jellyfish. In this story, about visiting an acquarium, Nancy overcomes that fear.

How? All she has to do is to stand in front of the jellyfish acquarium and actually watch them for a little while.

Neat and easy. Who said these books weren't practical?

RATING THIS LEVEL 1 READER

Look, the sweetness is pervasive, the illustrations stylish. So why not give FIVE STARS. Reading this book reminds me of eating really good jellybeans.

[Sarah]

Fancy Nancy detests jellyfish because she was stung one time at the beach. She tries to close her eyes through the whole section of jellyfish at the aquarium on the school field trip. Ms. Glass helps her to see that jellyfish are amazing creatures that don't harm people on purpose. That night she makes a jellyfish diorama, using some of her dad's loads of homemade peanut butter as sand, to give to Ms. Glass.

[Karin]

Maybe it was because of our own trip to an aquarium and the cool jellyfish we saw, but this was a good one. Overcoming fears and learning about jellyfish gave us lots to talk about. The ongoing peanut butter gag felt a bit off, but whatevs.

[Danette]

6/7/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.

[Stephanie]

BCFL Checkout (Warminster/9 books in one day per A).

Second read was me - I read to make sure it was appropriate.

[Shanice Robinson]

I liked this book. I liked the way Nancy opened up to enjoying jellyfish after she learned more about them.

[Robin]

Kinder and 2nd grade girls are my SMART readers in 2019-20; I think it's going to be a lot of Pinkalicious … and Fancy Nancy.

[Miss Sarah]

An elementary and up easy reader about Nancy and her class taking a field trip where she encounters an animal she fears. cute.

[Library Lady Terri]

The transitions are a little rocky.

[Cyndy]

Nancy's class goes on a field trip to an aquarium. Nancy's does not appreciate anything about jellyfish.

[Catie]

Fancy Nancy goes to the aquarium, and just may need to face her fear of jellyfish.

[Theresa]

Nancy has a PB&j sandwich while at the aquarium and sees jellyfish

[Jessica DeWitt]

A nice book about challenging one’s preconceived notions about something. And the diorama part took me back to the swamp diorama I made in third grade.

[Nicole C. (using StoryGraph more these days)]

This was my first encounter with Fancy Nancy. I chose this as I have a requirement to read a few beginning or emerging reader books for my Materials for Children course.

As others have stated, this book doesn't quite fit the description of a Level 1 I Can Read book. The "fancy" words that Nancy uses (which, to the author's credit, are explained in simpler language in order to expand vocabulary) seem out of place if the Level 1 book is supposed to be simplistic enough for a beginning reader to attempt on her own.

It was an alright story. Nancy goes on a class trip to the aquarium, which is cool until the dreaded jellyfish, which Nancy "detests" (her word) because a jellyfish stung her once. Her teacher tries to impart to her that jellyfish are nothing to be scared of, and Nancy finally comes around enough and makes a diorama for her teacher.

The digital version via Overdrive includes optional narration that can be toggled in the browser, and the words will highlight as they are read. It's a young child's voice reading, presumably "Nancy," and I could honestly only listen to two pages before turning it off. It would be useful for children, though.

[Isabella]

We typically love Fancy Nancy but struggled to make our way through this one. Not sure if the story didn't grab her attention or the pics weren't jumping off the page at her like usual but this one was a miss for us. But we LOVE Nancy and all her fanciness so we won't let this deter us from grabbing the next one right up.

[Sarah Harvey]

O'Connor, J. (2015). Fancy Nancy: Peanut butter and jellyfish. New York, NY: Harpercollins Childrens Books.

Fancy Nancy and her class get to go visit the aquarium and see all kinds of sea life like otters, dolphins and even manta rays. But when Fancy Nancy and her class get to the jellyfish exhibit, she doesn't want to go in. She is afraid of them and "detests" them. But why? Will Fancy Nancy get over her fear and go in?

Fancy Nancy books include all kinds of "fancy" words and give readers the meaning of them, like diorama. After Fancy Nancy gets over her fear of jellyfish, she makes a diorama of them. After reading the book, the class can talk about fears. Who in the class has fears? (snakes, flying, bugs, etc.), how did they get those fears?, how can you or how have you gotten over a fear? You can also ask them some questions like: What motive did Fancy Nancy have for making the diorama?, Would it be better if Fancy Nancy didn't get over her fear...why/why not? Afterwords the students can make a diorama of their own fear.

[Stellie]

The story was fine as a stand alone entity, but when you package something with an "I Can Read Level 1 Beginning Reading" label on it, there are certain expectations that need to be met. The back of the book states that a level one contains "Simple sentences for eager new readers" and while the sentence length was simple enough, the vocabulary introduced to a beginning reader was much more advanced than need be.
Comparing that to other "level 1" readers showed further that perhaps this was marketed incorrectly - as it should probably be labeled as a level 2 or 3.
Good story, but be prepared to help your children through this one if you're purchasing it for the leveled reader aspect.

[Samantha]

Nancy and her classmates go on a field trip to the aquarium. Due to bad memories from a jellyfish sting at the beach, Nancy is less than thrilled to see the jellyfish exhibit. Her teacher helps her to understand that jellyfish sting as a defense against predators, and points out different facts about a jellyfish's physical makeup that eventually win Nancy over.

Great story that showcases what young visitors to the aquarium can expect, and a nice problem/resolution regarding Nancy's initial dislike for jellyfish. A little humor is thrown in when Dad makes too much peanut butter making this a perfect read for PreK-2.

[Laura]

This might be one of my least favorite fancy Nancy books and I have read most of them. I just didn't think it was as whimsical and cute as other ones. Also I have to agree it shouldn't be classified at I CAN READ 1.

Also I was a little bit disappointed in Nancy's outfit. Her outfits are normally cute and age appropriate. But I just found her skirt to be a little to short for school apparel. As a mom, I think she needed some leggings on too.

[Rosa Cline]

Nancy and her class mates go on a school trip to the aquarium. She was excited to see everything...everything except the jellyfish. But after her teacher sees she is sad and kind of upset she tells Nancy about the jellyfish how they have no brain and things like that (teaching also the reader) Nancy soon finds out that they aren't really 'that' scary and that one summer she was stung by one by accident.

[Shelli]

This I Can Read Fancy Nancy series is perfect for young students to practice their reading skills and boost their confidence by practicing many sight and easy to sound out words, while enjoying a fun story. In this edition Fancy Nancy learns there are much more to jellyfish than just their sting.

[Jennie]

This one didn't charm me as much. Diva enjoyed it although she could not understand how anyone could be scared of jellyfish. I found that a bit silly as well, considering how many legitimately scary creatures there are in the sea.

[Mel]

I have read this so many times over the last few days that I'm counting it as a book. My 3 year old loves it. Thankfully she's to little to be trying to read it herself as it's quite a bit more advanced then I expected a 1st level reader to be. But she loves the pictures

[Rebecca Millerjohn]

Fancy Nancy is a midlevel early reading series featuring a little girl with lots of bows. While not particularly riveting, she has a wonderful teacher and family who shows lots of support for her ideas and creativity.

[Bree DeLaMare]

A cute, fun book for early readers with easy-to-read text and supporting illustrations. It has a funny and engaging story line that incorporates a few difficult words, but the text does a wonderful job explaining the words in student language.

[Pinky]

Nancy gets over her dislike of Jellyfish after she learns more about them.