The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window
by, Norton Juster and Chris Raschka

In this charming picture book, a little girl tells the story of a typical day with her Nanna and Poppy. She tells of the magical window in her grandparents kitchen where she plays peek-a-boo, waves hello and goodbye, and watches the world outdoors. In the little girl's imagination, just about anything might happen outside that window!

This story would be a perfect story for children who spend their days with a special person- grandparents or childcare provider- while their parents are at work. The story eloquently describes a child's mixed emotions: "Mommy and Daddy pick me up after work. I'm glad because I know we're going home, but it makes me sad too because I have to leave Nanna and Poppy. You can be happy and sad at the same time, you know. It just happens that way sometimes." I particularly love that passage because these mixed emotions can be so difficult for children to articulate.

The artistic illustrations in this story depict a multi-racial family. This picture book would be a nice addition to classrooms and libraries seeking to incorporate diverse representations of families into their collections.