Review - Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller

Fancy Nancy: Splendid Speller (Fancy Nancy)
by Jane O'Connor
illustrated by Ted Enik
Date: 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Where spelling is concerned, Nancy is better than great--she's splendid! But when Ms. Glass's spelling test is harder than Nancy anticipated, the self-professed spelling prodigy faces a tough decision.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is the type of Fancy Nancy book I like. While Nancy may think awfully highly of herself at times, she's not unable to learn from a dose of reality and be somewhat humble. This book also shows that she has a conscience.

Nancy thinks she's a pretty good speller and won't have any trouble with their upcoming spelling test. Still, she studies hard and practices spelling lots of things. When it comes time for the test, she can't remember how to spell one word. She thinks she might have it wrong, so she peeks at Bree's paper. But then she feels horribly guilty and leaves her answer the way it was. Sure enough, when she gets her paper back, she's spelled that word wrong... and, even worse, she feels she's a "wicked cheater". Her teacher gently explains that, although she was wrong to peek at Bree's paper, she's not a cheater because she stopped herself from actually changing her answer.

Nancy eventually learns that being splendid friends might be more important than being splendid spellers. Bree had a bit of trouble on the test, too, so it's all good... although, I do wonder what would've happened if Bree had scored higher than Nancy.

Quotable moment:

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.5 out of 5