Siblingitis! Fancy Nancy: The Fanciest Doll in the Universe by Jane O'Connor

DO YOU HAVE SIBLINGS? (THAT'S FANCY FOR SISTERS OR BROTHERS.)

I DO. JOJO IS MY LITTLE SISTER. MY PARENTS SAY SHE'S A HANDFUL,

WHICH IS POLITE FOR REALLY NAUGHTY.

JoJo has pulled some stunts in her time, like putting Easter egg dye in her wading pool and dyeing Nancy's pooch Frenchy green.

But the egg dye washed right off Frenchy's fur and JoJo's legs.

This time JoJo has hit a new low.  Playing pirate, she has appropriated Nancy's special doll, Mirabelle Lavinia Chandelier, as her privateer pal, and after Jo has drawn herself a swashbuckling mustache (with permanent marker), she adds a large skull-and-crossbones tattoo to Mirabelle's tummy.

Nancy pronounces the deed DESPICABLE.  She is disconsolate.

After JoJo (mustache and all)  is dispatched to do a well-deserved timeout, Mom tries to console Nancy with a promise to take her downtown to the History Doll Gala at the Ardsley Park Hotel.   Nancy dries her eyes,  dresses Mirabelle in her finest outfit which provides ample cover for the Jolly Roger icon on her tummy, and Mom and Nancy dress up to make the scene with a red-carpet arrival.

OOH-LA-LA! The Gala is everything Nancy had hoped for.  She joins lots of  girls with their best dolls dressed in their fanciest historic outfits in the Grand Ballroom, where there are linen-covered tables with flowers and  delicious French pastries and tea for refreshments. Some of the dolls are even wearing outfits just like Mirabelle's! Nancy joins some girls and they introduce their dolls. "Enchante', ma cherie!" The dolls are seated together and the girls enjoy tres charmante tea party talk.

Then Nancy looks around for Mirabelle:

MIRABELLE IS NOT LOOKING AT ME.  WELL, ONE EYE IS, BUT THE OTHER EYE ISN'T. ... .

Nancy rushes over and picks up her doll. Alors, her wig falls off...

... AND LOTS OF HER HAIR IS MISSING IN THE BACK!

I DUCK DOWN AND TAKE OFF MIRABELLE'S DRESS. THERE'S NO TATTOO! I COME TO A SHOCKING CONCLUSION! (THAT MEAN'S SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAS HAPPENED!)

The unthinkable has transpired.  Someone has mistakenly taken Mirabelle away with her! Horreurs!

It's bonne chance that Mirabelle Lavinia Chandelier has one distinguishing mark that no other doll in the Grand Ballroom has, in Jane O'Connor's latest full-dress picture book, Fancy Nancy: Fanciest Doll in the Universe (Harper, 2013). Robin Preiss Glaaser's rococo illustrations are as apt as always, and O'Connor's storyline is a familiar one in every household with more than one child. It's a rare younger sibling who hasn't broken, cut up, lost, or otherwise defaced something that the older child holds dear, and the miscreant JoJo catches a break when her buccaneer-style body art turns out to be the saving grace in this brand-new Fancy Nancy story. Nancy is compelled to accept little JoJo's teary apology as she concludes that it all turned out as well as could be expected.

AFTER ALL, IT COULD BE WORSE. MIRABELLE ISN'T BALD."