Nancy Tafuri is a wonderful author who's books are often a part of my story times for younger children. When she first began to write children's books in the 1970's she was told that her illustrations were too big for the 5, 6 and 7 year olds that the market then aimed for. We are so lucky that she was not deterred and her books are just perfect for younger children. I use many for my Mother Goose Story Times for Under 2s and my Story Times for 2s and 3s. She won a Caldecott Honor in 1985 for Have You Seen My Duckling. On her website http://web.me.com/nancytafuri/Site/Welcome.html she says:
“I feel honored to be creating literature for young children. Seeing how very important the early years are in a person’s life, I can only hope that my books can contribute in some small way to that growth, with the feelings that I hope I project within those pages, through line, color, shape, and story.”
I love using Spots, Feathers and Curly Tails for farmed themed story times for babies and toddlers. As with all of her books, Tafuri's illustrations are bright bold and attention getting. This book is like a guessing game and I have the children ad the sounds of each animal. "What has spots? A cow has spots." Each question spread shows a little bit of the animal and the answer appears in the next spread with the full animal. I then would say "What does the cow say?" and have the children "Moooo." Is perfect for story times!
Nancy Tafuri is one of the authors that I use a lot for my baby and toddler story times. The storylines are simply told and the illustrations really pop. The Busy Little Squirrel is often the star of my autumn story times. A little squirrel is getting ready for winter. When the other animals ask him to stop a moment the reply is ""But Squirrel couldn't...He was so busy!" The older children will join in the refrain each time as it is repeated. Finally, Squirrel is shone fast asleep in his tree with all of the food he has gathered.
These are just 2 of the many wonderful picture books by Nancy Tafuri. Check them out for your baby or toddler you'll love them too!
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