Juster, N. (2005). The hello, goodbye window. Hyperion Books for Children: New York, New York.
Age Level: 4-7
Genre: This is a picture storybook because it uses vibrant pictures to enhance the text of the story.
Norton Juster’s picture storybook The Hello, Goodbye Window, first captured my attention for its warm and colorful illustrations done by Chris Raschka. As I opened the book and began to read, the story did not disappoint. The book is a 2006 Caldecott Award winner and its bright and endearing story made me enjoy this book.
Told from a first-person point of view, The Hello, Goodbye Window is a story about a young girl who visits her grandparents often. As she goes into the house through the back door, she must pass the kitchen window, which she calls the “Hello, Goodbye Window.” To the main character, this window is magical and it is where she greets her grandparents first every time she comes to visit. Once inside, the kitchen becomes the heart of the house. It is where she and her grandparents share memories, eat, and of course watch and imagine all sorts of things outside the “Hello, Goodbye Window.” The story is told through the eyes of the child in the story; therefore, the descriptions of the house and the imaginary creatures she sees outside the window are childlike. For example, on page 5 of the story, she describes the kitchen: “Just look at the kitchen. It’s so big. It has a table you can color on and lots of drawers to take stuff out of and play with. But you can’t touch anything under the sink. You could get very sick.” These child-like points of views are what make The Hello, Goodbye Window so special. An adult may not appreciate or pay attention to these descriptions, but a young child who is hearing this story will understand immediately, all of the things that she says and can relate to them. To a young child, under the kitchen sink, might in their homes, also be a place where they could touch things that make them sick. As a teacher of very young children, I often wonder how my students will understand the things that are being taught to them or how I should say things so that they will understand. I believe this book is extremely helpful and is a great reminder of how simplistic things seem to young children.
Illustrations done by Chris Raschka are excellent examples of Impressionistic art. He has left out many details in his illustrations to put most of the emphasis on light created by the use of white space. While reading this book, I questioned why the illustrator might have left out the details in the pictures, and after thinking about the theme of the book and the point of view that the story was told from, I came up with this answer: Since the illustrations lack detail they may represent childlike qualities to reflect the childlike point of view in the text. I do not know this to be exactly true, but I think that the text and illustrations complement each other very nicely. He has used watercolors, oil pastels, pen ink, and charcoal to make his drawings come to life. The illustrations are done using warm colors such as yellows, reds and oranges. He has also used blues and greens combined with the warm colors, to represent the love and warm relationship that this family shares with one another.
The theme of the story is the relationship that the little girl has with her grandparents. The author uses the ritual of the “Hello, Goodbye Window” to symbolize the relationship that the girl shares with her family and how, to this child, things seem like they will always be the same. Her views show that she is still a child and her world is still uncomplicated and gives us insight into the way children see everything.
Since this story tells about a family, I would use this in my pre-school classroom to talk about families and the members of a family. The story is a great representation of a mixed-race family, so there is opportunity to use this book to talk about differences in families and even in skin-color, a subject that is talked about and taught in pre-school classrooms.
After reading this book and then looking through it again and again to analyze it, I would recommend this book. Not just to teachers, but parents also. I believe that young children would enjoy and appreciate this book because of their ability to relate to its subject matter.
Big Questions
Does your family have a ritual like the family in the book does of saying hello and goodbye at the “Hello, Goodbye Window”? Who are the members in your family? What kinds of things does your family do together? Are the things that the little girls sees outside of the window imaginary or real? How do you know?
More ideas for the classroom using The Hello, Goodbye Window:
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