Snowy Flowy Blowy: A Twelve Months Rhyme - Hardcover

Tafuri, Nancy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590189735 ISBN 13: 9780590189736

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 1999

Synopsis

A jolly English verse is accompanied by lively illustrations that capture the wonders of each month of the year, childhood changes, and many special events, from a wedding to the arrival of a new baby. 40,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Nancy Tafuri is the acclaimed author/illustrator of more than 30 children's books, including the Caldecott Honor Book Have You Seen My Duckling? "I feel honored to be creating literature for young children," she says. "Seeing how very important these early years are in children's lives, I hope that my books contribute in some small way to their growth, with the feelings I try to project through line, color, shape, and story." Tafuri, who studied at New York's School of Visual Arts, lives with her husband, Tom, and their daughter, Cristina, in rural Connecticut.
For more information about Nancy Tafuri, visit: scholastic.com/tradebooks

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2-Tafuri adds her signature borderless, double-page watercolor illustrations to an old rhyme to describe perfectly each month of the year. The four-line poem has three rhyming words in each line; one of these words per double-page spread represents a month, e.g., "Blowy" for March; "Showery" for April. The large, clear pictures make a perfect presentation for sharing with a group, which will join in chanting the rhyme a second time around. Used with preschoolers, the art will lead to explanations of the seasons, conversations about activities, and reminiscences of shared experiences. Each illustration has enough detail and action to be used as a point-and-say book with very young children. Emergent readers will catch on quickly to the rhyme and will enjoy explaining the pictures. Older readers will appreciate the beautiful illustrations. A seasonal delight for a wide audience.
Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The text of this sumptuous, oversize book, based on an old poem by Gregory Gander (aka George Ellis), assigns a single adjective to each month ("Snowy, Flowy, Blowy,/ Showery, Flowery, Bowery," and so on). It's an ideal vehicle for Tafuri (I Love You, Little One), who clearly revels in lushly detailed, expansive nature tableaux. Birds dominate in most of the full-bleed spreads, and they exude the aery quality of the rhyme (the ruby-throated hummingbird that illustrates May's "Flowery" is breathtaking). No matter how diverse their shapes or sizes, the birds command a panoramic view of the landscape. For "Showery" in April, viewers may feel as if they are crouching in the marsh grasses next to a gracefully bending swan; a treetop view for June's "Bowery" features two lovestruck, rose-breasted bluebirds nestled among pink flowers, while below them a wedding takes place in a riverside garden. As she proved in I Love You, Little One (a copy of which turns up in the final spread, drawn from an indoor perspective), Tafuri's hand is surer when depicting creatures great and small than humans; the people in these pages have a wooden, almost perfunctory quality with one important exceptionAthe mother and baby in "Freezy" December, who suggest a parallel to the Nativity. An inventive approach to the rhythms of the natural world. Ages 3-6. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0590189735
• ISBN 13: 9780590189736
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 28