You Can't Fool Nancy

By J. Nan Simon

The adventures of Nancy, as told by her, from pre-school through sixth grade.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Nan Simon
• Release date: Mar 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201200909

Book preview

Introducing Nancy

I’m Nancy. I live with my family in Inwood,

Manhattan, in New York City. One of my

favorite things to do is to visit my father’s

sister Trudy and grandmother (Omi) in

Flushing, NY. I spend many weekends and

vacations with them and we have fun together.

Starting when I was small, I was curious and always wanted to be an explorer. One of my favorite haunts was 4580 Broadway, where we lived until I was fifteen years old.

I have short, curly black hair, green eyes and am medium height. I walked late and spoke early. Baby, boy, vacadoom, stockings and bye-bye began when I was nine months old. I loved to have books read to me by Mommy and learned many of the words by heart.

When I was three years old, I was given a cat by Gus’ Dairy in the neighborhood. It gave me a huge scratch on my arm and he was put in the basement of our building where there were many cats. That made me sad.

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I want a baby brother or sister, Mommy.

We’ll see what we can do, my mother said.

When I was four years and eight months old, my mother gave birth to her second child, William Ian Lonsdale. He was born in May, the day before our mother’s birthday. I fell in love with him immediately. He was my new doll.

Nancy Before Kindergarten

Nancy is four years old and goes to play school in the park.  Her teacher, Mrs. Haggerty, is in charge of the playground where the school is. She is tall and smiles a lot. Nancy makes friends with Laura May, who has short brown hair and Debby, who is tall and thin, and they remain good friends for many years.

Nancy is shy so she doesn’t talk to many of the other children. She thinks that her teacher is very nice and likes the red braid that she wears at the top of her head.

Bobby, leave Patty alone, Mrs. Haggerty says firmly. You have to behave in school.  Bobby obeys her and so does everyone else. Nancy likes that.

Mommy walks her to school every morning.  She has learned to skip with one foot.

Whe-e-e, Nancy says as she does a combination of skipping and running.

Hold my hand Mommy and we can run together, and they do.

At the beginning of play school, it is warm enough for the children to go into the wading pool where there is spraying water that keeps them cool. Nobody wears a swimsuit; they go into the water with their light clothing on because it is September and it is hot.

Snack time is one of Nancy’s favorites. She brings carrot and celery sticks every day. There is a drinking fountain in the playground so the children can have cool drinks.  A record player inside the little house plays songs and other music and the children sing and dance.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Nancy...

Nancy’s birthday is September first, three days before school began. Nancy smiles.

Did you have a birthday party? Mrs. Haggerty asks.

Yes, a little one. Then she gives out the cupcakes to all of the children that she has brought from home. She chooses chocolate and most of the others do too. The teacher eats vanilla. They write a thank you note to Mommy on a large piece of construction paper and give it to Nancy to take home.

Every day, they sit on a rug and Mrs. Haggerty reads a book to them. Today it is The Color Kittens, which Nancy knows well. They also have an art project like pipe cleaners or tissue paper pasted on a large piece of colored paper. Most of the children cannot write, so Mrs. Haggerty writes it for them.

The three hours go quickly. Then Mommy picks Nancy up and they take the ten-minute walk home to 4580 Broadway where they live.

After lunch Mommy sometimes takes a nap because she is tired.