While one cannot overlook the fantastic whimsy that is Dr. Seuss, the doctor's strong suit was arguably not vocab development. Although the books make reading easy for beginners, "sneeches, snuvs, and schloppity schlop" are not terms that one could readily incorporate into their daily word bank. Seuss books are great for phonetic development, however, books such as Jane O' Connor's, Fancy Nancy, push the proverbial envelope in terms of crafting a loquacious learner.
The books follow the protagonist (that is, Fancy Nancy, of course) as she embarks on various day-to-day quests, generally under the guise of a daydream. I appreciate Nancy's tendency to see the elegance in most everything and also her impeccable sense of style for a preschooler. I have read several of these stories, such as Bonjour Butterfly and The Wedding of the Century. In these two books, Nancy is primed and pumped for an event, only to find the events don't occur as she had anticipated. Nonetheless, the young dreamer has a wonderful propensity for finding the glittery, silver lining in each situation. I believe it effectively teaches children to see things from another perspective. Additionally, the inclusion of "big" words and definitions (including a word bank in the end) helps introduce new readers to words they otherwise may not come into contact with until much later.
Another thing I enjoy about these books are the wonderfully sparkle-laden illustrations. The drawings themselves are fantastically intricate, colorful, and the glitter makes it pop from the page (though I'll be the first to admit I have a definite bias with anything incorporating sparkly flare into the equation.)
The only shortcoming to these books is that they are really more "female friendly." While Victoria Kahn's books incorporate the silly little brother as the comedic relief, these books tend to rely heavily on their fancy-girl edge, making them less-than-ideal for co-ed storytimes.
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