She has style, she has sophistication. And now, Fran Drescher has received a new book.
“N Is for The Nanny,” out now, is an eye-catching picture book that teaches young readers the alphabet through references to the ’90s sitcom, which ran for six seasons on CBS. The book features illustrations by Gary Chestney of Fran Fine (Drescher), an outspoken Jewish nanny who happens to care for the wealthy Sheffield family, with cheeky nods to fashion style her wonderful laugh (“A Is for Animal Print”) and distinctive giggle (“L Is for Laughing”).
“I thought it was incredibly charming and really captured the tone of the movie,” Drescher said of the book, written by author Rebecca Kelly. “She asked me if I had any notes and the only thing I said was ‘Ask the artist to make the hands more delicate.’ “One hundred percent of the proceeds from the book will go to Drescher’s Cancer Movement, a nonprofit charity that promotes early detection and prevention of cancer through healthy living.
Drescher, 64, added about the organization and the lasting legacy of “The Nanny”:
Question: In the foreword to the book, you write that most people in the medical profession are “focused entirely on curing the ultimate symptom, which is cancer, but completely disregarding the relationship.” Cause and Effect”. Is that something you wish you knew during your own experience with uterine cancer 20 years ago?
Fran Drescher: I definitely know more now than I did (then), about the toxic things I brought into my home. I didn’t know there was a difference between meat and produce, nor factory farming versus organic or pasture-raised livestock. And all the things I see advertised on TV, like toothpaste that says “Call poison control if swallowed.” I started asking the question, “Why do we get sick in the first place?” That led me down the path of deep cause and effect because if you had an apple tree that was producing rotten apples, you wouldn’t try to cure each apple. You’ll go to the roots and try to figure out what the underlying problem is. This is where the Western medical community has failed us.
Dresher: Timing is everything. Millennials were children when the show first aired on CBS. As they got older and started having children of their own, they not only appreciated this classic TV show with nostalgia but also (watched it) through a new lens as adults: They truly appreciated it all. double entendres, gay men. the humor and of course the costumes. Now (Gen Z) has caught on to it and it’s all over social media.
