Another adorable Fancy Nancy book! My four year old daughter likes this one as much as the others.

This latest visit with the ebullient Fancy Nancy involves a class trip to a planetarium. Nancy, being such a sparkling star herself, can't wait to go. The idea of seeing planets and constellations appeals to her boundless sense of imagination. She and her friend Robert prepare for the evening by putting glow-in-the-dark stickers in the shape of constellations on their shirts, and baking star-shaped cookies. The kids orbit (a fancy word for spin in a circle) until they are dizzy. Later a rainstorm ruins their plans, but Nancy has a brilliant (a fancy word for very smart) idea: They'll hold their own night sky show! Using beach chairs and candles, Nancy, Robert and the whole family watch the sky for stars, planets and constellations. After Nancy makes a wish on a "shooting star" -- not a star at all, but instead a meteor, as she correctly points out -- Nancy finds out that the planetarium visit has been rescheduled. Her wish comes true!

Nancy is as cute as ever, with her curlicue ringlets and girly clothes. Nancy's teacher Ms. Glass (a model for teachers everywhere!) is enthusiastic and funky with a purple streak in her hair.

I'm all for more science for kids. The "fancy words" in this beginning reader book include brilliant, constellation, meteor, orbit and planetarium. Not bad!

My only quibble is with the illustrations inside the book. Instead of being by Robin Preiss Glasser, like the cover, they are done by someone else, Ted Enik. Granted, they are "pictures based on the art of Robin Preiss Glasser," but overall they are sketchier and not as charming.

Some Fancy Nancy books that exclusively use Robin's art are Fancy Nancy, Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly (Fancy Nancy), Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words and Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy.

Unlike other Fancy Nancy titles, the cover does not have glittery sparkles on the artwork and letters.

Because of my preschooler, also named Nancy, I have been a follower of Ms. O'Connor's Fancy Nancy titles. I am particularly happy about these I Can Read! titles because I think they will be great when my Nancy starts reading. I've collected them all and I'm happy to add this one to my collection, particularly because it is about science and I am a math and science teacher.

Of course, as usual, the story is a nice one and the art is wonderful. In this story, Nancy and her classmates are learning about stars in school but the planned trip to the planetarium is interrupted by a rainstorm. I have to admit, as a science teacher, I cringe at the occasional lack of precision using scientific words (orbit, meteor). Still, I balance that with a fun story that can help get youngsters interested in science in the first place.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Ms. O'Connor has in store for us next.

This book does a very nice job of staying faithful to the original Fancy Nancy concept while making the language appropriate for a Level 1 early reader. The plot of this one is also pretty well-developed and very nice for an early reader -- there's a lot more there for a little kid to enjoy than I've found typical at this level.

However, the "fancy words" in the Fancy Nancy concept makes it a little odd to use as an early reader. At level 1, they should be reading with a parent anyway, but the fancy words would be really hard to decode, even for kids reading a Level 3 or 4 of a series like this. I like that they put a little glossary of the fancy words and their definitions in the back -- in this book they are alfresco, brilliant, constellation, fascinating, meteor, orbit and planetarium.

They bring in what seems to be a recurring Fancy Nancy theme of making the best of a less-than-perfect situation, and turning a disappointment into a nice moment with her family when the trip to the planetarium goes awry.

Overall, I like this book, and think it's a great early reader, as long as parents are ok with sitting down and helping with the "fancy words."

My daughter was born in March, 2002. She's now 6 and a half. We didn't discover Fancy Nancy until Feb 2007, so she was about 5. It's been a little disappointing for this series to come out as she is outgrowing it. The stories are cute but a little simple for a first grader.

Although "The Boy from Paris" and "...at the Museum" were good, this book just seems more advanced. I am hoping that Ms. O'Connor will write a few books aging Nancy as the authors of Junie B. Jones and Katie Kazoo have done. We'd like to keep the illustrations while progressing to more challenging reading. (Although, her books are all great at introducing new words!)