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Nancy Tafuri

Biography

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Nancy Tafuri first began drawing at a very young age. She recalls that her mother “thought [she] would make a great interior decorator.” But Tafuri had other ideas: “The more I thought about it the more I realized that I didn't want to fix up other people's houses. I had no idea that you could grow up to be a children's book illustrator.”

Nancy's first big break as an illustrator for children's books came when she was given the opportunity to work on George Shannon's The Piney Woods Peddler in 1980. She modeled her illustrations on her husband and the old Pennsylvania gristmill they were living in at the time, and the book was published in 1981. The Piney Woods Peddler proceeded to win a Children's Choice citation from the International Reading Association and Tafuri's output has been prolific ever since.

Nancy says that when she was little she loved animals and wanted to draw them. As an illustrator, she always works very hard on “getting all the facts correct in my illustrations. Each animal or rock formation has to be correct. Even though my books aren't nonfiction, the feeling of accuracy has to be there.”

Nancy has received several citations and awards for her work, including the Caldecott Honor Award for Have You Seen My Duckling? She lives in the country with her husband and daughter.

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  The Teacher Store
  	¿Has Visto a Mi Patito? by Nancy Tafuri When a mother duck loses her eighth and most adventurous duckling, she asks the other pond animals for help. The little one is never actually lost, only playfully concealed in each picture. "A game as well as a story." - Publishers Weekly $5.95 Paperback Book | Grades K-2

  
  ¿Has Visto a Mi Patito?
  Grades K-2 $5.95
  
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  The Teacher Store

  You are Special, Little One by Nancy Tafuri Caldecott Honor artist Nancy Tafuri's lyrical text and lush watercolors celebrate the special bond between parents and their children. Six animal babies as well as one human child ask the question "How I am special?" In reply, a fox kit is praised for his "glossy red coat and swift running body" while the human child is praised for his "curious mind and loving heart." All the while, reassuring your child that he will be loved "forever and ever and ever" by you. $7.99 Board Book | Grades Pre-K-K

  
  You are Special, Little One
  Grades Pre-K-K $7.99