READ THIS: Fancy Nancy Tea Parties by Jane O'Connor and Illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser

Fancy Nancy Tea Parties is the perfect storytime book for a Friday night in Manhattan for all our our Petite Peachy's!  Peachy Deegan loves tea and she loves Fancy Nancy!  Peachy and her grandmother, shown to the right, were known to have many fabulous tea parties during Peachy's childhood, complete with real china and stuffed animal guests on their very best behavior.  With a panel that boasts quite a few that did indeed graduate from finishing school and get many comments about how they "must know how to throw a good tea party," Whom You Know is pleased to highly recommend another hit by the star duo author Jane O'Connor and illustrator Robin Preiss Glasser.  We'd say Tea Parties are absolutely always "in," but currently with all of the Alice in Wonderland trends, even more so now!  (Alice is of course another classic that we would recommend.)   Today we love to have Tea Parties at Tracy Stern's Salon Tea.  The Petite Peachy Panel reviewed Fancy Nancy Tea Parties, and here is what they had to say:

Pinky’s Up! What a darling book by Jane O’Connor with her Fancy Nancy Tea Parties extraordinaire! Want to be a huge hit with your daughter, first read her the book then the real fantasy can begin. Just when you as mother think you have exhausted every new idea to engage and delight your child, Fancy Nancy to the rescue. This book was perfect for Tea Party ideas, recipes and centerpieces. I cringe at the thought of allowing my child to dress herself but when we have a FANCY NANCY moment, I let it ride. This time was no different. We allowed only the fanciest of her friends to attend the party and used as many of Fancy Nancy’s ideas as possible. Incorporating all the ideas at once, would certainly impress Miss FN. How much fancier could we get?

The glittery cover of Fancy Nancy Tea Parties by Jane O'Connor instantly grabs the attention of young girls and the remainder of the book has them captivated to the end. Beautifully illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser, Nancy is presented as a girl who loves to dress up and entertain her friends, a character that young children easily relate to and wish to copy during their creative play. This particular Fancy Nancy book suggests how to host the perfect tea party by detailing numerous aspects from ensembles, to etiquette, table settings and refreshments. Written from Nancy's point of view, the short sentences brilliantly define and describe each of these aspects in a literary style which lends itself to comprehension and vocabulary development. When describing 'Refreshments', Jane writes, 'Crunchy Munchy Crudites (croo-dee-tay) Crudites are raw vegetables. (Doesn't it sound much fancier in French?)' a page which is accompanied by a colorful illustration of an exquisite vegetable platter. Creative play is further encouraged by Jane's suggestions for various types of tea parties ideal for any condition: outdoors with friends, for two and doll tea parties. Kids love the tear-out blank recipe cards provided at the back of the book. One of our favorites and a gift that we love to give at birthday parties, we highly recommend this book! 

I absolutly loved Fancy Nancy Tea Parties.  The cover, I could tell had been embossed and it had a unique feel to it, which several of my students loved.  Because of this, my students took extra special care of the book.  The note at the beginning from Nancy I thought was extremely adorable.  It got many of the girls excited for throwing their own tea party before hearing the story.  I also felt this book did a good job at explaining various things like ensembles and etiquette along with various types of tea parties.  I also enjoyed how when explaining various types of parties, Nancy gives recipies as to how she made things.  The invitations in the back of the book were absolutly adorable.  Many of my girls began making invitations of their own.  I heard many of them planning a tea party they wanted to throw at home during recess.

Fancy Nancy Tea Parties is yet another great book in this wonderfully imaginative series.  This delightful little girl continues to amuse and inspire in this guide to hosting a tea party.  She recommends “ensembles”, coaches on the topic of “etiquette”, and elaborates on the how-to for all different kinds of tea parties, from the “classic” to those “alfresco”.    Not surprisingly, this gal really knows how to do it up right, recommending cloth napkins and even giving instructions on how to fold them.  Most endearing part of the book for me?  She offers ideas for entertainment!  My favorite?  Follow the Hostess!  I’ve read more Fancy Nancy books than those in any other series, and I haven’t tired of this character in the least bit.  Just this week, we had our two-year-old’s new bedroom painted pink at her request.  She followed up that request with, “I want to be fancy like Fancy Nancy.”  Gotta love this character!!!


Whom You Know highly recommends all of the Fancy Nancy books.
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