The Books of Nancy Tafuri

So……who's your favorite children's book author?

In my house, Nancy Tafuri is a household name and is considered to be one of our most beloved book authors. My daughter loves the book Silly Little Goose and in fact has the words memorized. Another favorite around our house is Tafuri's Counting to Christmas. Tafuri's simple prose and beautiful illustrations make her books stand out.

Tafuri began illustrating children's books in 1977 and illustration remains her first love. She authored her first book in 1983 and she has been creating beautiful picture books ever since.

If you are looking to introduce this wonderful author to your children's book reading repertoire, consider these classic books by Nancy Tafuri:

I Love You Little One
What the Sun Sees/ What the Moon Sees
Do Not Disturb
Silly Little Goose
Counting to Christmas
Have You Seen My Duckling (Caldecott Honor Book)

These beautiful and easy to read books are the books that your children will have fond memories of when they get older. And that's what it's all about isn't it-– creating happy memories for your children.

Recommended Read: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

A great read for children age 9 and up

E.L. Konigsburg's classic book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, is the winner of the 1968 Newberry Award-- and rightly so. In fact, this was one of my favorite books as a child and I still own a copy today.

The book is about a precocious young girl named Claudia Kincaid. Claudia is bored with her humdrum life and, looking for some excitement, she decides to run away from home. But Claudia has no intention of roughing it. Instead, she plans to run away and hide out in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

But she needs some help. Claudia gets her brother Jamie to go in on the plan with her and soon the two venture off on their journey. While at the museum, the two study some of the pieces of artwork and stumble upon a mysterious statue called "Angel". Before long the two are obsessed with learning everything they can about this unusual piece of artwork and they come upon a life altering conclusion.

So who is Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler anyway? She is the narrator of the book (you'll see why later in the book). And she's involved in the surprising twist at the end of this book.

This book is great for readers age 9 and up. And, um….adults will love it too. I reread this well-written story about once a year and never tire of it.

Remembering Parent's Magazine Press

Back in the n the 1960s and '70s, Parents Magazine ran a mail order book club called Parent's Magazine Press. If you were one of the lucky children whose parents actually enrolled you in this club, you were undoubtedly overjoyed whenever the mailman arrived bearing one of those telltale packages.

The books that my mother ordered for me from this book club are among my most cherished possessions. I still own many of them today, although not the original copies. Instead, I've scoured bookshops and eBay to replace my long lost copies of books like Roz Abisch's Open Your Eyes, Miriam Young's Miss Suzy and Jay Williams' The Cookie Tree.

You can certainly find some of the old Parent's Magazine Press books today, either at bookstores or at your local library. Miss Suzy has been reprinted in recent years, so it's pretty easy to find.

Here's to the vintage books of the '60s and '70s and the wonderful memories that they bring back with them....