LS 5603- Genre 1 - THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Juster, Norton. 2005. THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW. Ill. By Chris Raschka. New York, NY: Michael Di Capus Books/Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 0786809140

PLOT SUMMARY
In this picture book, Norton Juster writes about a window in the kitchen of a grandparent’s home. The story is told by the granddaughter. She tells not only of what she sees in the window but also of talks about her and her grandparents doing things together both in and out of the home. The book is filled with mostly positive experiences until the granddaughter has to go home with her parents and is sad. She fondly remembers the window as she leaves.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Juster’s writing uses simple text that children can understand. He also uses events that may have happened in the reader’s lives to connect with them. The story conveys the emotions of happiness, contentment and a little sadness. The ending of the story has the granddaughter state that she wants to have the same experiences for her grandchildren. Juster is relating that those wonderful childhood experiences you have in your life you also want to share with your children and/or grandchildren.

Chris Raschka’s illustrations are not clean drawings but the colors tend to blend into each other and there are few definitive lines. This made the illustrations appear more like a child had drawn them. He presented the grandparents and parents as a bi-racial couple. The text does not support this idea.

This book might bring out questions about race and families.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Child magazine's Best Children's Book Awards 2005
Positive Review – Publisher’s Weekly
Positive Review – Children’s Literature
Positive Review – School Library Journal
Positive Review – Kirkus Reviews
Winner of the 2006 Caldecott Medal

CONNECTIONS
- This would be a good addition to other books used that discusses family. Students do not all have the same types of families.
- Other books about families:
Penn, Audrey. THE KISSING HAND. ISBN 9781933718002
Hoberman, Mary Ann. FATHERS, MOTHERS, SISTERS, BROTHERS: A COLLECTION OF FAMILY POEMS. ISBN 9780316362511