Why did you decide to have Nancy make the transition from picture books to chapter books?įor a long time, I felt Nancy was strictly a picture book character, since a lot of the appeal in the picture books are the visual transformations-like when she rigs up her plain bedroom to be fancy. I just saw it as another fun and fancy aspect of Nancy, but parents say they love to hear their daughters copy Nancy and say big words, like 'astounding.' That seems to have really struck a chord with parents.

When I meet parents, mothers will often laugh and say, 'Look at me now, in jeans and a t-shirt, but I was like Fancy Nancy when I was a little girl.' And I didn’t know at first that parents and teachers would really appreciate Nancy’s vocabulary and the way she uses five-dollar words. Dressing up makes them feel like they’re big and important-and very glamorous of course.Ĭlearly Nancy has also endeared herself to book-buying parents. They want to feel like a big shot, since you’re not very powerful when you’re young. Little girls, like boys, like to be noticed. I think that for girls, dressing up and being sparkly is like playing superhero for little boys, but maybe I’m being too analytical. What do you think is it about Fancy Nancy that has attracted so many young fans-and makes them want to emulate her? There are always a couple of them who I’d like to kidnap and take home with me. Now I get to spend time with all these totally overdressed little girls with their evening gloves and lopsided tiaras. Isn’t it kind of ironic that the mother of two sons has created a character who is so all-girl? Though I did think that anything with sequins on it was just the bee’s knees, so I guess I really was my own inspiration! It’s funny, when I go to bookstores or schools, kids ask me where I get my ideas, and often ask me if I have a daughter or a granddaughter, and I say, 'No, I don’t have a daughter, I have two sons-and no grandchildren yet.' And then I suggest to them that maybe I was a bit like Fancy Nancy myself.

I preferred board games or roller skating in the park or riding my bike. I wasn’t terribly girly-girlish when I was little, in the sense that I wasn’t into dolls.

I was always asking my mother to look more like Susan’s mother. Susan’s mother wore pink iridescent lipstick and blue eye shadow and lots of jewelry. My mother was very pretty in an understated, chic way, but I thought she was too plain. And the other part of my inspiration for Fancy Nancy was my friend Susan’s mother. I’d also entertain our visitors-often with a dance. I often wore it, believe it or not, with a red cape and a pair of my mother’s high heels. When I was a little girl, my grandmother and great aunts used to visit on Sunday afternoons, and I’d always greet them attired in my pink tutu that had a satin top and tulle with tiny pink rosebuds on it.

Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor