The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster is the 2006 Caldecott Award Winner. This is a precious picture book about the love shared between grandparents and grandchildren. I loved reading this book because it made me realize that the special relationship shared in this book is one I want my children to share with their grandparents.
This story is about a little girl who goes to stay at her grandparent’s house when her parents go to work. Their kitchen window is very special to this little girl and she calls it the hello, goodbye window. While it is only an ordinary window, it is much more than that to her. She always says her hellos and goodbyes to her grandparents through the window and she thinks this is where everything happens.
I love the simple story that is portrayed in this book. The little girl thinks that the window is in a room where wonderful things can happen. In the mind of an adult it is only the kitchen, but to a child we see that it is so much more exciting. That is where the big table is that you can color on, it is where you go in the morning to eat breakfast, it has lots of drawers full of stuff to play with, it even has a sink in it that used to be used to give her a bath! These are all simple elements of most kitchens, but to this little girl they are very special and wonderful.
I enjoyed reading some of the things that are special to the little girl about the window because they are similar to what my kids have at their grandparents. The hello, goodbye window looks out over the garden and there is a flower barrel beneath it on the outside. While my in-laws do not call their kitchen window “the hello-goodbye window” it is very similar and I think it would be sweet if my kids found as much excitement in one window as this girl does.
Not only are the words fun to read in this book, but the pictures are fun to look at. All of the illustrations look as if they were drawn by a small child. They are scribbled and colored out of the lines, which makes it fun to look at. When I read this book, I was able to see the kitchen and house, etc. as she did because the illustrations are done in a child’s fashion. My son really liked this book being read to him, I do not think he understood much of the story because he is young and loses interest quick, but he did like to look at the pictures.
This is Norton Juster’s first picture book so I have not had the opportunity to read any of his other works. One of his most well known books is The Phantom Tollbooth, a middle school chapter book that unfortunately I have never read it so I have nothing to compare this book to. After reading this book I am interested in reading others by him so that I can see if they all portray important messages and lessons about life and love.
This story is about a little girl who goes to stay at her grandparent’s house when her parents go to work. Their kitchen window is very special to this little girl and she calls it the hello, goodbye window. While it is only an ordinary window, it is much more than that to her. She always says her hellos and goodbyes to her grandparents through the window and she thinks this is where everything happens.
I love the simple story that is portrayed in this book. The little girl thinks that the window is in a room where wonderful things can happen. In the mind of an adult it is only the kitchen, but to a child we see that it is so much more exciting. That is where the big table is that you can color on, it is where you go in the morning to eat breakfast, it has lots of drawers full of stuff to play with, it even has a sink in it that used to be used to give her a bath! These are all simple elements of most kitchens, but to this little girl they are very special and wonderful.
I enjoyed reading some of the things that are special to the little girl about the window because they are similar to what my kids have at their grandparents. The hello, goodbye window looks out over the garden and there is a flower barrel beneath it on the outside. While my in-laws do not call their kitchen window “the hello-goodbye window” it is very similar and I think it would be sweet if my kids found as much excitement in one window as this girl does.
Not only are the words fun to read in this book, but the pictures are fun to look at. All of the illustrations look as if they were drawn by a small child. They are scribbled and colored out of the lines, which makes it fun to look at. When I read this book, I was able to see the kitchen and house, etc. as she did because the illustrations are done in a child’s fashion. My son really liked this book being read to him, I do not think he understood much of the story because he is young and loses interest quick, but he did like to look at the pictures.
This is Norton Juster’s first picture book so I have not had the opportunity to read any of his other works. One of his most well known books is The Phantom Tollbooth, a middle school chapter book that unfortunately I have never read it so I have nothing to compare this book to. After reading this book I am interested in reading others by him so that I can see if they all portray important messages and lessons about life and love.
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