The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello,Goodbye Window
Written by Norton Juster and Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Publisher: Hyperion Books for children
April, 2005
Grade:K-2
Themes: imagination, grandparents/grandchild relationship

Summary: A little girl loves going to her nana and poppy's house because she loves looking out the Hello, Goodbye window. It looks like a regular window, but it is not. It is a magic window. She imagines seeing dinosaurs walking by, the queen of England and many other things.

Reflection: I like this book. Children will be able to relate to having fun at their grandparent's house. It made me think of running around and playing games when I was little at my grandparent's house. I liked all of the scenarios the young girl imagined. I enjoyed reading about the magical getaways. It was entertaining.

Pre-Reading: Show the children the cover of the book and the illustrations. Ask the children to predict what they think the hello, goodbye window is. 

Post-Reading: I will give the students a worksheet with a window on it. It will say, if you could see anything out of the hello, goodbye window what would you see and why? The students will write a few sentences about what they would want to see and draw a picture in the window of what they see.

About the author:

Norton Juster was born in 1929 in Brooklyn, New York. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1954 he joined the navy and began writing. His first book, Phantom Tollbooth was published in 1961. It was a winner of the George C. Stone Centre for Children's Books Award. It was made into a film by MGM and was recently turned turned into a musical. His latest book, Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie is a sequel to The Hello, Goodbye Window.