Sleepy-Time Gal: Fancy Nancy and the Late, Late, Late Night by Jane O'Connor

WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD, MRS. DEVINE LIVED IN HOLLYWOOD. SHE USED TO SEE LOTS OF MOVIE STARS--ONLY MRS. DEVINE CALLS THEM CELEBRITIES. ISN'T THAT FANCY?

SHE HAS A SPECIAL SCRAPBOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHS. SOME ARE AUTOGRAPHED. THAT MEANS CELEBRITIES SIGNED THEM.

Sipping tea daintily on her veranda, decorated with classic movie posters, Nancy and Mrs. DeVine look at her treasured scrapbook of movie memorabilia. When it's time to go home, Mrs. DeVine even allows her to borrow her precious collection overnight. Ooo la la! Nancy can't wait to study each page in the privacy of her own room. Back home, though, Nancy is inspired to dress up like one of the glitterati and pose for glamour shots snapped by her little sister pretending to be one of the paparazzi.

Before she knows it, it's almost bedtime. It's a school night, Mom says firmly, and after a quick brushup on her spelling words for the upcoming test, Nancy must go right to bed on time. Not to worry, though. Nancy has stashed her flashlight and Mrs. DeVine's precious poufy patchwork scrapbook under the covers, and after Mom and Dad say nighty-night, she crawls under the sheet, switches on her personal reading lamp and studies every page, enthralled. It's been a perfect night, Nancy thinks, as she finally puts her head on her pillow at 10 P.M.!

I BET EVEN CELEBRITIES DON'T STAY UP THIS LATE!

And they don't have to get up at dawn and go to school either. Nancy is exhausted by her late, late, late night. She's too pooped to try out for double Dutch at recess and definitely flubs the audition on her spelling test, and when Mrs. DeVine invites her to dinner and the vintage movie National Velvet on TV that night, she can barely keep her eyes open long enough to politely decline that gentille invitation.

THAT NIGHT I GO TO BED EVEN EARLIER THAN MY SISTER!

AND GUESS WHAT? MRS. DEVINE TAPED THE MOVIE FOR ME!

In Jane O'Connor's latest Fancy Nancy and the Late, Late, LATE Night, (HarperFestival, 2010) even movie star wannabes need their beauty sleep. Ably assisted by associate illustrator Carolyn Bracken, Nancy is just as fancy as ever in the new addition to O'Connor's best-selling picture paperback series about America's favorite fan of elegante language. Bonne nuit, Nancy!