Counting to Christmas

by Nancy Tafuri

Sharply drawn, large-scale illustrations capture the joy and wonder of a child's Christmas season, chronicled in a simple story that helps readers learn to count, and accompanied by instructions for several Christmas crafts and activities.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Counting, Animals, Family

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Nancy 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.”

Reviews

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Might have been better if there was a different activity for every day the little girl was counting down to Christmas, but combining days for one activity like baking cookies was a little lame. My 2-year-old enjoyed it bc it counted down to Christmas, but if it weren't for his enjoyment of this book, I would have rated it a 1.5 or 2 stars.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. A bit bland, but some kids might like the "counting" element and there are instructions for the crafts that the girl makes so young readers can do the same. (Note The cover art is the best in the book.)

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has elements of the holidays and is a good ay to introduc vocabulary like trimming the tree. The book has a countdown to Christmas so children can work on their counting as well. The pictures are simple, but get the point across.

This book would be good to pair with the different crafts and activities from the story. one example would be coating pinecones in peanut butter and birdseed.

[Mary Sesar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great book to use for younger children. It's about a little girl who doesn't just think about Christmas and presents. She counts down the days by doing activities each day to help celebrate the holidays.
I would use this book to teach children that Christmas is more than just presents and Santa and that there's many things to do to help celebrate the holidays with your family. This book is a Caldecott Honor winner.

[Terry]

What our child loved quickly became tedious to us. Each page is a single sentence with a couple of verbs. It does have the right spirit, with Santa's arrival only a small part of the story's focus. Read the rest of the review on the Reading Tub website.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think advent calendar only in book form. Days are measured by the seasonal traditions one little girl celebrates. Watercolor and ink illustrations splotlight each activity and really help build the anticipation of Christmas Day. I loved the two page spread in which just a glimpse of Santa is seen.

Rounding out the book is a recipe for gingerbread cookies and craft ideas. PreK-2.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a great book to see numbers is numerical order. It was a kid friendly book. It would be a great book to use becuase it has some vocabulary that would be very educational for the students to know.

[Jo Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are directions for crafts and a recipe at the back of the book.

[Meredith Henning]

an annual favorite

[Sandybear76]

a simple book counting from Dec. 1 to the 25th. It will be a good for the preschoolers.

[Shelby Troutman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counting 1 to 25.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations. Wonderful Christmas book and great way to incorporate learning numbers.

[hal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really cute book for really little kids. It's a good book to read around the Christmas season. The text is simple but the illustrations are nice.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read to Logan before nap, too. We loved the illustrations!

[Maria Waltner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for something that my four year old nephew (who is brilliant with numbers) would like but this is older and very sweet. I can't see this keeping his attention.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A toddler book. There is some activites in the back of the book for children.

[Jeani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Nancy Tafuri's books. This one is great because it uses simple words and lovely images to show children some of the many traditions that lead up to a cozy, joy-filled Christmas day!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every year, this book is my gentle & thoughtful reminder to break down holiday activities into happy and manageable pieces. And, of course, be generous to nature and wildlife! (Picture book!)

[Meg McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was very good in two ways!

One.. it shows a young girl thinking about others, and not about the usual presents for Christmas.

Two.. it has some great recipes and craft ideas to use at Christmas or any time of the year!

The girls and I are planning to string some popcorn and cranberry garland and put them on the trees for the birds to eat!

But I agree with some of the other reviewers.

I think the book would have been much better if it had been a true counting book! That is, a different activity for every day in December, leading to Christmas Day!

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book, reminds me of Christmas in Germany when I was a little girl. We used to do the Advent and special Christmas activities throughout all of advent. I still feel that it's lacking Christmas Midnight Mass. The drawings are nice and detailed with Christmas decorations. It is a pleasure reading a wholesome Christmas book that incorporates counting down to Christmas as we all did as children. The advent is a great tradition that I will keep passing down.

[Alyssa Lundy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: informational
Age group: prek -k

This is a simple book on counting using Christmas as a guide. It shows how exciting Christmas can be as a kid and helps a child count the days too Christmas.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hoping for really lush illustrations like the cover, but the illustrations were a lot more simple. I think it came out a while ago, it felt a little bit older of a style.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations - gift from my mom, Christmas 2017.

[Marsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, non-secular, beginner reader, recipes at end.

[Nancy Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun way to prepare for Christmas with the little one in your life by counting the days to Christmas with Tafuri's "Counting to Christmas." This book gives new meaning to over-sized illustrations that seem to jump off the page.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old-fashioned. Which makes sense.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good addition to a collection. It's a simple book about counting down to Christmas.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This simple book is an advent calendar with recipes and instructions for garlands, pinecone bird feeders, gingerbread houses, and other Christmas activities.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Nancy Tafuri style this title has a sparse text and the illustrations are up close regarding the activities the girl participated in as she counts down the days to Christmas.
The author also includes direction and recipes for a few of the crafts and cookies illustrated in the text.

[Lari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd use this book as a read aloud with preschool-age children maybe in conjunction with a discussion about what they do in their families for the winter holidays. It would be a good independent reading book for a first grade room too.