Class Pets by Susan Nees, and: Picture Day by Susan Nees (review)

Like Jane O'Connor's Fancy Nancy, primary-grader Melissa Abigail Rose (known as Missy) likes to do things with panache. In Picture Day, the budding fashionista has grandiose plans for her outfit for school picture day, only to be thwarted by her more conservative mother. Disgruntled Missy uses thoughtful classmate Oscar as a sounding board for her complaints, but it looks like this will be Missy's most boring class photo ever—or will it? In Class Pets, Missy excitedly prepares to host class pets Eenie-Meenie, Miney, and Mo, but mean girl Tiffany beats her to the punch. Once again it looks like Missy's plans will fail—until Tiffany learns that Eenie-Meenie, Miney, and Moe are rats (she thought they were gerbils or hamsters), and Missy rescues them from the shrieking, rodent-tossing chaos that ensues. The plots in both titles are a bit thin, but the short, snappy text and plentiful illustrations fill a niche by providing a supportive textual and visual transition between more vocabulary-restricted easy readers and longer, more challenging chapter books. The frequently humorous text ("Tiffany was big. Tiffany was loud. Tiffany had hairy arms") and the lively pace will keep novice readers engaged as well. The extensive full-color illustrations and lively composition suggest a missing link between early readers and graphic novels, and Nees' cartoonish, button-nosed figures are attractive and dynamic, especially the sassy, sproingy-haired Missy. Hand this to fans of Fancy Nancy (or even Olivia the pig) who are ready for the next step up the reading ladder.