The Hello, Goodbye Window
written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka
The Hello, Goodbye Window is a story about a little girl who goes to visit her grandmother and grandfather. When she arrives at the home she talks about this hello, goodbye window. When she is on the outside looking in, she sees her Nana and Poppy inside of the house. Sometimes they make funny faces at each other and sometimes they don't know she is there yet. The little girl loves spending time with her Nana and Poppy. She talks about all of the fun activities they do together during her visits there. Her and her Poppy make faces in the window together like a mirror and her and her Nana watch the stars at night. When it is time for the little girl to leave she talks about the goodbye window making her happy and sad as she waves goodbye to her grandparents.
This story is a very touching one and I really enjoyed it because I too used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents, especially in the summer. My sister and I would beg our parents to stay at our grandparents for a week. When we would go and stay with them there was never a dull time. We were spoiled to say the least and we never wanted to go back home when the time came. Many times we would get to spend a few more days at our grandparents because we would cry and beg our parents. I think that this story would be great for children around Pre-K level until about 2nd grade. The story is one that revolves around a very stereotypical family (mother, father, child, grandmother and grandfather) but I really like the illustrations in this story because they are not specific to a certain race. I am guessing the illustrations were done with oil pastels. I would absolutely recommend this book and I will hopefully be able to read it in my classroom someday. I think it teaches an important lesson to children that they should cherish their time with their grandparents.
This seems like a very fun story. The illustrations just from the cover are super unique but fun and bright. This story does seem like a great story to read to students to remind them to think about the times they spent with their grandparents. I know though that it might be hard for some students who have never had the chance to meet their grandparents for distance reasons, or if their grandparents have died before they got a chance to meet them, so make sure to discuss or give an alternative relationship that students can relate to with this story.
ReplyDeleteI think this story depicts children's love for going to their grandparent's perfectly. It is something children look forward too. This would be such a great story to read before a holiday break or even before the summer. I completely agree with Jem about providing other options for students to relate to if they do not have this kind of relationship with their grandparents.
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