All Kinds of Kisses

by Nancy Tafuri

There are all kinds of kisses...
Cheep kisses. Moo kisses. Maaa kisses. Coo kisses...
But the best kiss of all...
Is Mommy's kiss goodnight. Sweet dreams, little one!

Mommies and babies aren't the only ones who enjoy sharing kisses. All throughout the farm, animal families snuggle up with their little ones, offering them warmth and love. Following a mama bird on her journey back to the nest to give her own baby some special cuddles, Nancy Tafuri uses beautiful, inviting illustration to share how different creatures, from peeping ducks to mooing cows, show their love and affection in very similar ways. A heartfelt homage to all of the wonderful kinds of kisses.


Praise for All Kinds of Kisses:

* "Many bedtime books featuring animal sound exist, but few are executed with such skill; this one has the potential to become a classic." - Kirkus, starred review

"Closer observation of Tafuri's beautifully textured watercolors rewards viewers with additional narrative... Like the best busy day, time has flown, leaving everyone satisfied, comforted, and ready for bed." - Horn Book

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Love, Family, Nature

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 2, 2012

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

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little one likes this one a lot

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Kinds of Kisses has got to be my new favorite bedtime book. Can they put it in board book format too?! Going through the farm yard each animal mama gives her baby a kiss. Educational with animal names and the sounds they make each page is a wonder. Beyond the animal pair in question in each picture there is another something to spark discussion and push the imagination further. The book ends with the best of all kinds of kisses from a human mama to her going-to-bed child. I love it! The words, the sounds, the illustrations. Every bit is grand to me.

*Thanks to LB Kids for providing a copy for review.*

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at Baby/Toddler Story Time on 2/14/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Baby Lap Time on 2/15/12 & 2/16/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Toddler Lap Time on 2/14/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at Baby Lap Time on 2/14/13: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at preschool story time on 2/15/17: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated, sweet story about all the different kind of kisses that are around us. This particular story is set at the farm, and in reading this book with my little girl we loved seeing the different kind of kisses and love that take place between the various animals and their little ones. From mice, birds, ducks, cats, goats, dogs and more. This delightful story will be a big hit with young children. The bright colors and large illustrations make it easy to captivate young readers' attentions. My daughter and I loved looking for the tiny details hidden on each page, like the blue bird who's featured on each page, and the tiny bugs. The story ends with the best kiss of all, a kiss from a mother to her sleeping little one. I highly recommend picking this book up!

[Great Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gentle tale of animal families snuggling up with their loved ones is sure to send sleepyheads to sleep. Beautiful watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are set against a pastoral background showing animals lovingly receiving and giving kisses. Reviewer 8

[Chris C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This worked great for a Valentine's Day Storytime for the toddlers. All of Tafuri's books work really well for the 1-3 year olds. If you can get Tafuri's books in board book format, they would make great baby shower gifts.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet choice for storytime sharing. The size of the book and lovely 2 page spreads will make this easy to see, even for large groups. Older children will have fun finding the bluebird in each picture.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Forgot about this for my Valentine's program this year and I could of used some shorter, simpler stories for the babies. Have to keep it in mind for next year. 2/13/13

Tried this year, but wasn't a hit as the last book. 2/9/16

Went over really well in Baby/Toddler this year.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice choice for sharing during baby or toddler storytimes.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nancy Tafuri rocks for the pre-school and younger crowd. A very sweet book with all kinds of animals noises and kisses - great for children to make the noises as you read.

[Awjtf · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute book! Wonderful illustrations!

[meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty much the perfect sweet, animal-noisy toddler readaloud.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for story times with little ones.

[Marguarite Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always Nancy Tafuri's beautiful artwork touched my heart.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the baby animals on the farm are kissed by they parents... moo kisses, oink kisses, quack kisses etc. But the best kiss of all is the goodnight kiss from Mommy!

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every animal on the farm kisses their little ones.

[Gwen Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great simple story with beautiful illustrations - was great for baby and toddler storytime

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

We thoroughly loved this book. My son, 18-months-old, was thrilled to see the various ways animal bestow affection on their babies. We brought the book to me to read about a dozen times while we had it out on loan from our library and every time it was a joy. He pointed at the animals and attempted to make their sounds, and gave me kisses every time we read it! His favorite pages were the dog, cow and cat because they lick their young. This book depicts the special bond that exists between ALL mothers and babies and was a perfect Mother's Day read and perfect for snuggling up for bedtime. I love Nancy Tafuri's books in general. Her beautiful watercolor illustrations are crisp, detailed and realistic, yet soft and colorful. I'm definitely going to buy this book at my next opportunity, as it was easily going to be his favorite if we didn't have to return it to the library.

Autumn @ From Papyrus to Picture Books

[Sunnyvale Librarian]

Nancy Tafuri's large illustrations will engage even the very youngest. The text begins, "Little ones love kisses." Mother bluebird attends to her baby and the scene continues through the farmyard and woodlands as little pigs and cows, squirrels and rabbits receive a kiss from their parent. On the last two-page spread, we see a human mommy holding her little one and giving her a kiss good night. Outside, mother bluebird is snuggled in the nest with her little babe. All Kinds of Kisses is sweet and soothing, a perfect ending to the day.

[Maddypictures · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely! Another winner from Nancy Tafuri. This is an animal noises book, with large, colorful attractive animals which can easily be seen from across the room (perfect for storytelling!) A few of the animals have unusual or unexpected noises: "peep" for ducklings, and "eep" for baby mice, "sniff" for baby bunnies. Observant readers will note the tiny bluebird that flies across each page, as you "travel" through the barnyard and surrounding countryside many of the previously featured animals can be seen in the background. The final page features "the best kiss of all" with a Caucasian mother wearing a prominent wedding ring kissing a toddler to sleep.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love this beautifully illustrated book by Nancy Tafuri however I was disappointed by the fact that the book demonstrates "All Kinds of Kisses" (little dove loves Cooo kisses; little kitten loves meow kisses and etc.) but ends with
"There are all kinds of kisses, but the best kiss of all...is Mommy's kiss good night." Fine for kids living in a traditional environment, but in a day and age where families are all kinds of different, this book seems like it will exclude a lot of little ones.

[Rebecca Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri (Little, Brown and Company 2011) is a sweet and simple farm animal bedtime book emphasizing the fact that “Little ones love kisses.” Each two-page spread tells the kinds of kisses the little animal loves, and it ends, of course, with the little child being kissed goodnight as well. There are very few words on each page, and the gentle colored pencil illustrations perfectly match the simple message of the book and the lullaby-like tone of the words. Oversized pages draw the young lap-sitting reader in to the love-filled farm.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed. I was expecting different kinds of kisses- like eskimo kisses, butterfly kisses, puppy dog kisses and it wasn't that. However it isn't bad and I'm sure kids would love reading this with their parents. Every page is pretty much "Little [animal] loves [sound effect] kisses.". Because of the sound effects I'm sure kids would like this, but like I said I was expecting something different. But it gives you the change to work on animal noises with your kid and ends with Mommy's good night kiss being the best.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My four-year-old son checked this book out from the library this week.

My son was drawn to this book because of the cover illustration. We've been reading I Love You, Little One, also by Nancy Tafuri, for about four years now. He recognized the style and wanted to read this book.

All Kinds of Kisses is all kinds of perfect for baby showers. The text and artwork are perfect for babies and toddlers. It was a little young for my son, but he still really enjoyed it.

[Alexandria Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri Rating Date Alexandria Caitlyn Roberts Finished This Book not set Started This Book What Did You Think about this Book That is Called All Kinds of Kisses By Nancy Tafuri and Uncle Bill and Aunt Sally and Lizzie and Maggie and Grandma and Grandpa and Benjamin Scott Roberts and Robert William Roberts and Hailey and Daisy Roberts and Mabel Roberts and the Rest of the Animals and also Alexandria Caitlyn Roberts.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gentle, peaceful tale set in a fantasy barnyard. Mother animals are shown lovingly caring for their young; each with a special type of kiss (sheep give "baa" kisses, ducks give "peep" kisses) she gives her baby. I really liked the message that animals' bonds with their children are special and important--even animals whose interactions we don't often consider, like hens and mice.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will use this book this winter for my Hugs & Kisses Valentine storytime with the babies--it will go nicely with our Animal Kisses activity (eyelash butterfly kisses, nose-to-nose bunny kisses, bumping-forehead billy-goat kisses...). Would have loved a non-specific parent/caregiver ending instead of the best kiss being "Mommy's kiss good night."

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not part of our library's story-telling collection (yet), but I checked it out to use it for a bilingual story time program in celebration of Valentine's Day. The illustrations are simply beautiful and are a good size for a story time setting. I also love that the book is conducive for participation. I'd use this for story time again.

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet book full of warm and fuzzes. All Kinds of Kisses depicts many different animals, parent and child, exchanging kisses. I read this at a toddler tales and one of the toddlers came up and kissed the page and exclaimed: Sheep! Great book for mother to read to a child. Fabulous book for babies of all ages!

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to like about any of Nancy Tafuri's books. They are of a size easy to share with a group. The illustrations are endearing. The text is brief. The stories are easily understood by young children.
Besides all that, children love repeating animal sounds and identifying animals. Children have a universal need for affection, which is the heart of this book.