The Hello, Goodbye Window

Name: The Hello, Goodbye Window
Author: Norton Juster
Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Publisher: Micheal Di Capua Books, Hyperion Books for Children
Publicaton Date: 2005
ISBN: 0-7868-0914-0

Summary
When a nameless little girl goes over to her grandparent's house, she automatically ventures over to the kitchen window to peek in. This is not an ordinary window for the child, but a magical one because it is the "hello, goodbye" window. This is the where she sees her Nanna and Poppy for the first time every visit and it leads into the room where she identifies the most with her grandparents. The window is where she can tell if she's going to have a good day with her grandparents or one ruined with rain. It's also the window where she says good night to the stars. She has been known to sit by the window to look out because "anybody can come along when you least expect it." She also sits by the window and listens to her grandpa play the harmonica. She also spends time with her grandparents outside of the kitchen, but her visits mainly consist of spending time near the special window. When it is time to go home, she dreams of having her own house with a hello, goodbye window in it.

Review
"The Hello Goodbye Window" is a fresh view on the going to visit the grandparent's story. Norton Juster is the author of the well-known classic "The Phantom Tollbooth." The little girl tells the story through the wide-eyed wonderment of a five- or six-year-old. She has an active imagination that shows when she says she waits by the window looking for amazing things like Tyrannosaurus Rec, who is extinct, "so he doesn't come around much." Juster's use of the word extinct once again shows the trust he has in his young readers. "The Phantom Tollbooth" is full of word jewels and "The Hello, Goodbye Window" uses upscale words like extinct when dead was just as useful. He also shows he understands chldren when the little girl takes a nap and she truly believes that nothing happens while she is asleep. There is no real climax to the story. There is no problem that needs to be solved or no plan that falls apart. It is just a story about a little girl, a window, and a visit to her grandparent's house.

The illustrator Chris Raschka's use of the expressionism style is perfect for the world of a young child who see much more to the world than just a globe. His pictures adds a little to the story. For example, when the little girl tells the reader she doesn't go behind a particular bush because a tige lives behind it, we see a little kitten behind it. The subtleness of the two interracial marriages in the pictures show the reader that the two races can live in harmony. No mention in the text of blcak or white, but it stares back at you in the illustrations. Even though the style is appropriate, at times I felt the illustrations were distracting and a bit much.

Professional Reviews
Parravano, Martha V.
Journal Name: The Horn Book
Source: The Horn Book v. 81 no. 4 (July/August 2005) p. 451-2

Title: The hello, goodbye window[2005; Juster, Norton; Hyperion Books for Children]
"The familial love that is Juster's subtext finds overt expression, spectacularly, in Raschka's illustrations--lush mixed-media creations saturated in watercolor and pastel crayon and set off perfectly by white space. In paintings that are freewheeling yet controlled, Raschka incorporates tight circular scribbles (for the little girl's and Nanna's hair, for bushes, for clouds), solid shapes (for furniture, for floors); thick strokes of watercolor (for trees, for the door that separates the little girl and her grandparents when her parents come to take her home); and a black line that outlines occasional objects. . . . A varied layout, balancing exterior and interior landscapes with smaller character vignettes, helps sustain the book's energy. Say hello to Raschka at the top of his form."

Morrison, Hope
Journal Name: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Source: Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 58 no. 11 (July/August 2005) p. 493
Title: The hello, goodbye window[2005; Juster, Norton; Hyperion]
"There is a delightful dose of preschooler ego . . . that is perfectly matched by Raschka's chaotically uninhibited paintings, which similarly evoke a kid-centered world. He uses color fearlessly to reflect the fantastical energy of the child's narrative line, and his bold, splashy brushstrokes create an exciting and fanciful world (though the facial expressions of the multiracial family are sometimes muddied in the process). This holds obvious potential as a story to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren, but young audiences are likely to eagerly listen to anyone willing to read it to them."

Connections
Write a story about what makes your grandparent's house different from anyone elses.
Create a diorama of the kitchen and the window based on the books description.