The Hello, Goodbye Window

by Norton Juster

Other authorsChris Raschka (Illustrator)

Hardcover, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

PB Jus

Description

A little girl describes the magic kitchen window in her grandparents' home.

Media reviews

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1-The window in Nanna and Poppy's kitchen is no ordinary window-it is the place where love and magic happens. It's where the girl and her doting grandparents watch stars, play games, and, most importantly, say hello and goodbye. The first-person text is both simple and sophisticated,

conjuring a perfectly child-centered world. Sentences such as "When I get tired I come in and take my nap and nothing happens until I get up" typify the girl's happy, imaginative world. While the language is bouncy and fun, it is the visual interpretation of this sweet story that sings. Using a bright rainbow palette of saturated color, Raschka's impressionistic, mixed-media illustrations portray a loving, mixed-race family. The artwork is at once lively and energetic, without crowding the story or the words on the page; the simple lines and squiggles of color suggest a child's own drawings, but this is the art of a masterful hand. Perfect for lap-sharing, this book will find favor with children and adults alike.-Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Hillsboro, OR Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Show Less

— 2 more

Publishers Weekly

Juster (The Phantom Tollbooth) crafts a cozy portrait of a grandchild and her grandparents in this endearing book, illustrated in paintbox colors by Raschka (Be Boy Buzz). A curly haired girl-who dances with wiggly energy in Raschka's lush paintings-describes playful visits to her Nanna and Poppy,

whose kitchen window provides the perfect venue to say hello and goodbye. "You can climb up on the flower barrel and tap," she says, "then duck down and they won't know who did it." Her grandparents welcome her into a sunlit, spacious kitchen filled with plants, where she doodles and listens to Poppy play "Oh, Susannah" on the harmonica. At night, the "Hello, Goodbye Window" functions as a mirror, and the girl jokes about being outside looking in: "Poppy says, `What are you doing out there? You come right in and have your dinner.' And I say, `But I'm here with you, Poppy,' and then he looks at me in his funny way." Juster departs from the over-the-top punning of his earlier works to create a gently humorous account of a family's conversations and games, all centered on the special window. Raschka warms the pages with glowing yellow, emerald, sapphire and golden brown, and he pictures the garden and trees in emphatic midsummer greens. The characters smile at one another with a doting twinkle in their eyes, and grandparents especially will be charmed by this relaxed account of how a child's visit occasions everyday magic. Ages 2-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Show Less

Children's Review

A young girl takes us to her Nanna and Poppy's house to see a very special window. Most of the time her Nanna and Poppy are there in the kitchen so she can tap on the window, then hide, or they can wave at her when she arrives. We share her joy in the fun she has with Poppy's harmonica playing,

watching reflections in the window at supper, saying goodnight to the stars with Nanna, looking through the window at the garden, playing outside. Sometimes through the window she sees people; sometimes her imagination fills it with other more amazing sights. Saying goodbye through the window when Mommy and Daddy pick her up is sad, but she looks forward to having her own "Hello, Goodbye Window" some day. Raschka turns the pages into scenes of innocent joy. His paints barely suggest objects as he applies intuitive areas of color, he then uses black lines here and there to define a face, a bicycle, a spouting hose. The personalities of the grandparents and their loving interactions with the narrator make this an engaging tale, while the artist's imagination forms something special from a bit of childhood. 2005, Michael Di Capua Books/Hyperion Books for Children, Ages 3 to 6.

Show Less