Alopecia World
www.alopeciaworld.com
*Updated 9-24-2014* Mothers Beware Fancy Nancy: Fanciest Doll in the Universe!
The new ending is published! The publisher and Author just sent the new edition to my daughter. I can't wait to check out a book store to see if it is out there too.
Thank you all for your support and efforts in getting this ending changed. There is no way they would have listened to 1 mom, but YOU made them listen.
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry the picture is sideways... I couldn't figure out how to rotate it)
Please do not buy this book for your children. This very popular children's series has a horribly negative message toward anyone experiencing hair loss! I read this book to my daughter and REALLY wish I hadn't. Below is the letter I sent to the publisher (HarperCollins) and author (Jane O'Connor). Neither one has responded to me so I would like to share this with you with the hopes that you won't make the same mistake I made.
--------------
I am a mother to a 6 year old girl with Alopecia Areata who loves Fancy Nancy. My daughter, has the most extreme form of Alopecia which means she is entirely hairless. She is often mistaken for a child undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
My daughters preschool had a book fair this past fall where I bought the book Fancy Nancy: Fanciest Doll in the Universe. At first glance it seemed like the message was one of tolerance and embracing our differences, I couldn't have been more wrong. Below I've included the publisher's description that can be found on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble's listings.
"Fancy Nancy is back in New York Times bestselling team Jane O'Connor and Robin Preiss Glasser's picture book Fancy Nancy: Fanciest Doll in the Universe, about the love little girls feel for their favorite dolls—and their favorite sisters!
Fancy Nancy's sister, JoJo, can really be a pest sometimes . . . like when she put Easter-egg dye in the kiddie pool and dunked Frenchy in it! But this time she's done something really bad, and Nancy is livid—that's fancy for tres angry and upset. JoJo drew a tattoo on Nancy's precious doll, Marabelle Lavinia Chandelier! Even worse, it's in permanent marker. That means it will never come out! When Mom suggests a fancy doll party to make Nancy feel better, Nancy is excited to accept. But what if the doll drama isn't over?Fans of Fancy Nancy and fancy parties alike will delight in this story of how younger siblings can get on your nerves sometimes, but it always works out in the end. As always, the central theme of all the Fancy Nancy books shines through, showing how Nancy empowers girls with knowledge through her fascination with do-it-yourself fun!"
You can imagine my horror when my daughter and I read the book for the first time and it concluded with, “After all, it could have been worse. At least Marabelle isn't bald." I found myself stumbling over my words, trying to come up with a more positive ending. I refused to let my daughter hear her beloved Nancy proclaim those words.
Along with all parents who have children battling hair loss, our family works very hard to build a positive self-image in a world so focused on our exterior appearances. We strive to teach our children to embrace and celebrate our differences. It hurts to imagine the damage a single, careless sentence like this would cause them. Unlike a tattoo, the hair loss these children face is not a choice.
Please, I urge you: consider revising the ending to Fancy Nancy: Fanciest Doll in the Universe.
The ending should reflect the rest of the books message of tolerance and understanding. It is Marabelle's uniqueness that brings her back to Nancy, so shouldn't we be teaching our children to love that which makes us individuals? What, I ask, is wrong with being bald?"
--------------
Here are a few ways you can help me spread the word about this book and its hurtful message.
- Share our story on Facebook
- Write a review on Amazon and Barnes and Noble
- E-mail the publicist of the publisher HarperCollins Sandee.Roston@harpercollins.com
- Write to the author
Jane O'Connor
c/o Author Mail, 18th Floor
HarperCollins Children's Books
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
- E-mail your local library and school library and ask that they remove this book from their collection.
- And finally please feel free to share our story with other Alopecia Forums and support groups.
Thank you so much for reading such a long post and any support you are capable of!!
**Update 6.17.2014**
A HarperCollins spokesperson e-mailed me back Monday evening with good news!
"We are truly sorry that we caused you any distress. You are absolutely right when you say that the Fancy Nancy books have a message of tolerance and embracing differences, which is why your email is so important to us, and we are grateful that you brought this to our attention. Please know that the ending for this book is currently under review."
When I asked what the review process included this was their answer...
"In terms of next steps, our editorial team is going to meet with the author and illustrator to discuss this situation. We know Jane and Robin will share our feelings that this needs to be addressed right away."
I'll be sure to let you all know the next time I hear from HarperCollins, but I think this is a great start!
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by hairtogo on
-
I just wrote a review on Amazon stating my objection to the message that baldness is somehow "bad"
I hope others will write a review to let the buyer beware! How terrible!!
-
-
Unfortunately this book is just one of so many books(and TVshows) that have that message. When my daughter was in Kindergarten they read "Everyone Has Hair" and I cringed since she has none, or "Stephanie's Ponytail". My daughter says villains always seem to be bald and bald is always considered funny or ugly. Hopefully with more education people will become more sensitive to the differences in us all. It is difficult to shield them forever. Until it changes discussing these issues and supporting our children to make them strong and confident in who they are is the what we must do as well as doing what you did and helping others be aware of the hurt they cause.
-
Permalink Reply by BaldisBeautiful on
-
I'm so sorry that your daughter had to read those books suz. Your daughter must be one strong little girl to read those stories so young.
-
Permalink Reply by dinaeddie6 on
-
This is so sad!
My two girls LOVE the Fancy Nancy books!!! Thank goodness that we have not read this particular one!!
This would be so hurtful to my four year old who lives with Alopecia. She especially enjoys dressing up and insists on wearing a dress everyday. My husband and I go along with it because we suspect her main reason for always wanting to be dressed up is the fact that she is so often mistaken for a boy. We go threw the chemo questions as well which are upsetting! Sometimes people just stare I do not know which is worse.
It's so sad that such a popular book series would contain such a comment.
A
-
-
I am so glad that you saw my post! My goal is to make people aware so they don't make the same mistake I did, and hopefully one day HarperCollins or Jane O'Connor will revise the ending.
My little girl also loves to dress up and I also think it is partly because people think she is a boy (even in blue dresses - go figure). She is always in a dress, and I often have to talk her out of wearing her special occasion dresses for playdates. If it is pink and sparkly, she loves it.
-
Permalink Reply by Tallgirl on
-
Even so-called religious people think baldness is okay to ridicule. I caught an LDS youth pastor in California using weight and baldness to make jokes in his speech as I passed by the teen room in a building used for our scout meeting. Of course, there is also the wigged character in Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights film. So much for religious acceptance, eh? Some people park their brains outside when creating books, humor or movies for children...
-
-
Thanks for making me aware of this. In our family, I'm the bald one, and I'm also the only one who notices all the visual references to bald being evil or ugly or laughable (like in the Frozen movie), but I have a Fancy Nancy fan and don't want that message in our house. I know that not being a parent of a child with alopecia probably mellows my response, seeing it as just ignorance and perhaps a realistic reflection of societal attitudes, but I can imagine how a little girl might respond.
-
Permalink Reply by Bk on
-
Other than reviews on Amazon, is there a way to make an organized request to the publisher and/or distributor (Amazon) to reconsider and amend the ending?
We will be happy to participate in an online campaign if you know how and where to send the requests. Maybe email addresses to send anecdotes of how this negatively impacts our young girls, or ourselves or maybe a link to an online petition.
Thanks in advance!
-
-
This is the only contact information for the author I have found:
Jane O'Connor
c/o Author Mail, 18th Floor
HarperCollins Children's Books
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022My initial e-mail went to the Publicist of Children's Books at HarperCollins sandee.roston@harpercollins.com
We've also alerted our schools and local libraries. The schools my kidos attend have pulled the book from their libraries, and will pull the book from the Scholastic Book Fair as well as notify them of the issue (that is where I bought the book). I guess I should talk with Scholastic too.
I wish I had more information to give, or a more direct person to address.
-
-
I found this address for her:
Mailing Address: Jane O’Connor, c/o HarperCollins, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
Jane is the vice president & editor at large for Penguin Books for Young Readers.
I would guess (using their typical company email format) that her email is jane.oconnor@us.penguingroup.com
-
Permalink Reply by Veronica on
-
So sorry about this. Must have been just awful, but I find myself saying the same thing to my friends ( who know about my hair loss) when they are complaining... "At least you are not bald!" They usually stop complaining and we laugh! But I wouldn't say that to a child. Thanks for the warning!
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next ›
© 2024 Created by Alopecia World.
Powered by
