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Do Not Disturb
The movements and actions of a family camping in the woods cause the forest creatures to also move, scurry, and make noise.
24 pages, Library Binding
First published April 1, 1987
14 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Tafuri
67 books57 followersNancy Tafuri is probably best known as the creator of Have You Seen My Duckling?, a 1985 Caldecott Honor Book described by Parent’s Choice as “beautifully precise yet emotionally affecting.” Trained as a graphic designer, Tafuri has authored more than 45 books over 30 years for the very young.
When Tafuri first attempted picture book illustration in the late 1970’s picture books were aimed at five-, six-, and seven-year-olds. Tafuri’s images were considered “too graphic” for children that age. “The pictures are too big,” she was told over and over about the large, colorful shapes she drew. Finally, Tafuri’s talent was recognized and tapped at Greenwillow Books, Harper Collins Publishers.
Since then she has had the opportunity to work with Scholastic Press, Scholastic Inc., Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division and most recently Little, Brown Books For Young Readers, Little, Brown and Company.
Tafuri was born in Brooklyn, New York. For the first ten years of her life she was an only child and says that this helped her to learn to entertain herself with stories and art.
Tafuri entered the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1964. Her first job was as an assistant art director for the publishing firm Simon & Schuster. She left two years later and married Thomas Tafuri, a fellow student at the School of Visual Arts.
The Tafuri’s opened their own graphic design studio, in 1971. Their primary product was dust jackets for hardcover books. They opened their business in New York City, but eventually moved their studio and home to Connecticut.
At this time, Nancy was able to devote all of her time to writing and illustration.
When Tafuri finally found herself illustrating children’s books, either her own or other authors’, she felt she had found her life’s calling and a strong sense of joy from creating them. She loves to take a small portion of the text and create a visual representation that children can grasp and remember. In 1989, when Cristina was born, Nancy began to feel even more strongly motivated to illustrate for children. Her work seemed even more important and more personal.
“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.”
When Tafuri first attempted picture book illustration in the late 1970’s picture books were aimed at five-, six-, and seven-year-olds. Tafuri’s images were considered “too graphic” for children that age. “The pictures are too big,” she was told over and over about the large, colorful shapes she drew. Finally, Tafuri’s talent was recognized and tapped at Greenwillow Books, Harper Collins Publishers.
Since then she has had the opportunity to work with Scholastic Press, Scholastic Inc., Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division and most recently Little, Brown Books For Young Readers, Little, Brown and Company.
Tafuri was born in Brooklyn, New York. For the first ten years of her life she was an only child and says that this helped her to learn to entertain herself with stories and art.
Tafuri entered the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1964. Her first job was as an assistant art director for the publishing firm Simon & Schuster. She left two years later and married Thomas Tafuri, a fellow student at the School of Visual Arts.
The Tafuri’s opened their own graphic design studio, in 1971. Their primary product was dust jackets for hardcover books. They opened their business in New York City, but eventually moved their studio and home to Connecticut.
At this time, Nancy was able to devote all of her time to writing and illustration.
When Tafuri finally found herself illustrating children’s books, either her own or other authors’, she felt she had found her life’s calling and a strong sense of joy from creating them. She loves to take a small portion of the text and create a visual representation that children can grasp and remember. In 1989, when Cristina was born, Nancy began to feel even more strongly motivated to illustrate for children. Her work seemed even more important and more personal.
“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.”
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 19, 2018
After a busy day in the woods, a family crawls into their tent for a little shuteye. Too bad that it's now the animals' time to be noisy.
February 18, 2025
There are some illustrators that I am partial to, Nancy Tafuri is one of them. This is almost a wordless picture book. It begins with It was the first day of summer and the following illustrations show all of the activities are doing on a camping trip. It ends with the family asleep in the tent and all the night creatures making their sounds. A great book to foster conversation with a child as one pursues the illustrations.
Reread in 2025, my though rad I reread this one is more children need exposed to the nighttime sounds of nature.
Reread in 2025, my though rad I reread this one is more children need exposed to the nighttime sounds of nature.
June 23, 2011
A nearly wordless picture book, Do Not Disturb shows us in illustrations just how noisy humans can be...and how nighttime creatures return the favor during the night.
Used for "No More Noise" Storytime: July, 2011.
Used for "No More Noise" Storytime: July, 2011.
April 10, 2012
The movements and actions of a family camping in the woods cause the forest creatures to also move, scurry, and make noise.
September 30, 2012
Another great title from Tafuri that requires reader participation. The nearly 20 mo. old loves getting me to talk about all that is in the pictures and point out things she notices herself.
May 9, 2021
1997 Alissa kept saying: I caught a fish, too!
1998 Who was disturbing who?
1998 Who was disturbing who?
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews