The Hello, Goodbye Window

Title: The Hello, Goodbye Window

Author: Norton Juster

Illustrator: Chris Raschka

Genre: Fiction

Sub-genre: Realistic fiction: Families

Date of publication: 2005

Publishing company: Scholastic Inc.

Awards: The Caldecott Medal award winner

Theme: The enjoyment of having fun & spending time with grandparents.

Primary character: A little girl

Secondary characters: Nanna & Poppy (her grandparents)

Summary: The story is about a little girl that enjoys visiting her Nanna & Poppy. It specifically evolves around a window in her grandparents’ house that is centered on a lot that happens during visits to her grandparents. This window is what she calls the hello, goodbye window. Different actions take place through this window; for example, she says good night to the stars with her Nanna through the window, her & her Poppy will make silly conversations from the reflections that they see out of the window, and etc. Eventually, the window is where she excitingly arrives to greet her grandparents with silly faces and ends her visits by saying goodbye through the same exact window. In short, it’s a cute story about a little girl who loves visiting and spending time with her grandparents.

Classroom use: I would definitely incorporate this storybook with any subject-content matter that pertained to the family themed unit. In example, I could read this book when teaching a lesson on families, grandparents, or even when it relates to emotions/feelings towards others.