Nancy-Jo Taiani

Nancy-Jo Taiani lives in New Jersey with her husband of almost 40 years. She enjoys painting, gardening, and hiking in the spare time left from advocating for the environment and social justice.

Her most recent children's picture book is "The Mushroom's Other Hat." Amber, a new-grown fairy ring mushroom, hates her ordinary-looking mushroom cap. To express her individuality, she sets out to find a new hat and in the process comes to treasure her mushroom community as she discovers more about it and herself in this contemporary fairytale.

"The book’s message, about finding an inner gift, comes through strongly… Taiani’s painterly illustrations have a whimsical tone, perfect for the fairy-story setting…Young readers will identify with Amber’s desires in this tale and have fun imagining what she might create next."

"Kirkus Reviews"

Aware, thanks to her Muslim husband, of misconceptions about Islam, she wrote “A Night of Power: A Ramadan Story” to introduce 7 to 10 year-olds to the Muslim holy month. Nancy has been accused of writing spiritual books. Though inspired by spirituality, her books are actually light-hearted and cultural. Visit the website for “A Night of Power” at https://sites.google.com/site/aramadanstory

More playful is "MishMish: Spy Cat" about an apricot-colored kitty who tails everyone and investigates everything. She must be a spy. Or could she be behaving like an ordinary house cat?

A Roman Catholic, Nancy-Jo has written a memoir, “Healing Father John – A Journey of Contrariness, Connection and Change,” about her relationship with a charismatic and capricious priest.

Nancy-Jo's website is nancytaiani.com. She is on Facebook and has a blog about another passion, the environment called “Noting Nature” at http://notingnature.blogspot.com. Follow her to learn about her adventures with groundhogs, dragonfly season and more.