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Junglewalk
A little boy falls asleep after reading a book about animals in a jungle, and then he meets them all in his dream
- GenresPicture Books
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
12 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
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March 2, 2023No words.
October 7, 2017
Some wordless books really work well, especially when the pictures clearly tell a story. This was not one of those books.
A boy reads a book about jungles, then drifts off to sleep. He dreams of jungle animals. Or it may be that his cat is pretending to be a tiger wandering through the jungle. I just couldn't tell. The illustrations are bright, but the depiction of the animals could have been better, especially since there was no dialogue.
A boy reads a book about jungles, then drifts off to sleep. He dreams of jungle animals. Or it may be that his cat is pretending to be a tiger wandering through the jungle. I just couldn't tell. The illustrations are bright, but the depiction of the animals could have been better, especially since there was no dialogue.
November 7, 2012
Wordless book that follows a boy through the jungle as he searches for his cat. (Its really a dream and the cat is a tiger). I loved the details. The animals on the previous and following page are always in the frame as well as the boy searching.
May 19, 2009
Another Nancy Tafuri favorite of ours.
November 26, 2011
A picture book without words
A little boy falls asleep after reading a book about animals in a jungle, and then he meets them all in his dream.
A little boy falls asleep after reading a book about animals in a jungle, and then he meets them all in his dream.
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March 2, 2014wordless
June 27, 2016
Good for any grade.
wordless picture book.
wordless picture book.
February 17, 2025
In this wordless picture book a young boy falls asleep after reading a book about jungle animals. In the dream his cat becomes a tiger walking through the jungle. Beautiful watercolor with black pen illustrations in double page spreads show us a green alligator, hippos up close with their whiskers, and mother and baby elephant. Beautiful
March 4, 2020
Wordless story in which a child (having read a book about the jungle before bed) dreams her cat slips out the window into a jungle setting and turns into a tiger.
February 15, 2014
This would be a good book for talking about dreams. Also a good "read" for any student who is into animals. I might use this book as a starter for a story about a dream that seemed real.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews