The Hello Goodbye Window

I loved Chris Raschka's A Ball for Daisy which won this year's Caldecott Medal, for its vivid hues, confident strokes, and the bold yet quiet way it told its simple yet special story.

The Hello Goodbye Window, an earlier work of Chris Raschka's which also won the Caldecott award from 2006, is just as delightful. Once again using bright, striking colors, and a style reminiscent of children's art, an event as simple as spending the day at Nanna and Poppy's is made extraordinary. It feels just right for children's art to accompany the story, as the story is told through the voice of the child herself.

The story is an everyday one. It's all about Nanna and Poppy's house, and all the happy things they all do together at home: playing, making music, having meals, playing some more, sleeping at night, and waking in the morning. The way it is told, however, makes this this everyday story something special. I found myself smiling at the naiveté of the child-narrator, and laughing along at Poppy's jokes. Then there is the Hello, Goodbye Window, which "looks like a regular window, but is not", simply because of what Nanny and Poppy have made it out to be.

Similarly, this might seem a regular story, but it is not. Under Norton Juster's pen and Chris Raschka's brushstrokes, everyday becomes extra-special. This book reminds every parent that making a child's day extraordinary is just as easy as child's play.

Teaching Tips: 

• This book is great for teaching setting. 

• I can also see how it would lend itself nicely to text-to-self connections for many children. 

• There could even be extensions into art lessons; children could be asked to draw a scene of another activity happening in Nanna and Poppy's house. 

• Also art-related, this book can be used as an introduction to the impressionist school for students, even at the upper elementary grades. There is a spread that calls to mind Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night in the book. Students can be shown Van Gogh and Raschka's rendition, then draw their own versions of Starry Starry Night, or even their own renditions of Van Gogh's other work. 

Did you know? 

Chris Raschka is the US nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration for 2012!  

Want to know more? 

Jules from Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast has a wonderful interview with Chris Raschka featuring lots of illustrations from a range of Raschka's books. Head on over!