Module 3: The Hello, Goodbye Window & Grandfather's Journey

The Hello, Goodbye Window

by Norton Juster

Summary: As a little girl goes to visit her grandparents, she takes the readers on a journey through what a visit with her Nanna and Poppy is like. She tells of a special window where they greet her when she arrives, look through while she is there, and wave goodbye through when she leaves.  As this little girl reminisces on the fun times with her grandparents, she looks forward to the day that she too will be a Nanna and have a hello, goodbye window to share with her grandchildren.

Juster, N. (2005).  The hello, goodbye window. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

My Impression:  Not only is this story beautifully illustrated and well written, but children are sure to love this book due to their ability to make connections with it.  The narrator of the story is a little girl who is visiting her Nana and Poppy.  The child like paintings match the writing perfectly and really bring this story to life.  This is a book I would not only have in my elementary school library, but in my collection at home as well.  I give this book an A+.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist starred (March 15, 2005)

PreS-Gr. 2. Two well-known names come together in a book that speaks to the real lives of children and their experiences. The young narrator visits her grandparents, Nanna and Poppy, in their big house. They explore Nanna's garden, and Poppy plays his harmonica. The narrator rides her bike and takes a nap, "and nothing happens till I get up."Looking out the picture window, the "hello, goodbye window,"she sees the pizza guy, and, more fancifully, a dinosaur. She also spots her parents coming to pick her up. The curly-haired girl is happy to see them, but sad because it means the end of the visit. The window imagery is less important than the title would make it seem. More intrinsic is Juster's honest portrayal of a child's perceptions (a striped cat in the yard is a tiger) and emotions (being happy and sad at the same time "just happens that way sometimes"). Raschka's swirling lines, swaths, and dabs of fruity colors seem especially vibrant, particularly in the double-page spreads, which have ample room to capture both the tender moments between members of the interracial family and the exuberance of spending time in the pulsating outdoors, all flowers, grass, and sky.

Cooper, I. (2005, March 15). The hello, goodbye window. [Review of the book The hello, goodbye window, by Norton Juster]. Booklist, 101(14), 1286. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com

Horn Book (July/August, 2005)

"Nanna and Poppy live in a big house in the middle of town." In Juster's paean to loving grandparents, the young narrator relates the small, comforting routines she shares with her grandparents when she visits, from coloring at the kitchen table to counting stars with Nanna to finding all the raisins Poppy hides in her breakfast oatmeal. The quiet, gently humorous first-person narrative presents a very young child's worldview ("when I get tired I...take my nap and nothing happens until I get up"); occasionally, an adult perspective intrudes ("You can be happy and sad at the same time, you know. It just happens that way sometimes"). 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 -- everything from Poppy's glasses to electrical outlets to a flower Nanna picks. 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.

Parravano, M. V. (2005).  The hello, goodbye window [Review of the book The hello, goodbye window, by Norton Juster]. Horn Book Magazine, 81(4), 451-452. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com

Library Uses:  This book would be an excellent choice to model the reading strategy of making connections.  As you are reading the story, stop periodically to reflect on ways that you can connect to the narrator of the story.  Upon finishing the story, call on several students to share what the story makes them think of.  Have each student draw a picture and write a paragraph of something they do with their grandparents.

Grandfather's Journey

by Allen Say

Summary: A young Japanese man decides to journey to America.  He falls in love with everything about the country.  Eventually he becomes homesick and returns to Japan to marry his sweetheart.  After he and his wife have a child they return to live in America.  Once again he longs for his home country, and they return to Japan.  His daughter has a child of her own.  Her child loves to visit with his grandfather and hear stories of California.  He grandfather longs to go back to visit California but never gets the chance.  When the young boy grows up, he travels to visit California for himself.  Like his grandfather he falls in love with America.  He has such a love for each country that regardless of which country he is in, he always feels homesick for the other.

Say, A. (1993). Grandfather's journey. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

My Impression: I give this book a B+.  As an adult I am able to really appreciate and connect to the story. This is a well written story, but children might miss the deeper meaning.  It would be excellent to use in a lesson where the teacher could help students make the connections to truly appreciate this excellently written story.  The illustrations are beautiful and include great detail.  They are reflective of the time period this book is set in.

Professional Reviews: 

School Library Journal/April 2003
K-Gr 4 -In this fictionalized account, Say describes his grandfather's love for his native land and the lure of life in America, feelings the author experienced firsthand when he emigrated from Japan to the United States. In so doing, he sums up the quintessential immigrant experience, "the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other." Carefully composed, exquisite watercolors, resembling photographs in an album, match the quiet restraint and elegance of the text.

Marton, D. S. (2004). Grandfather's journey [Review of the book Grandfather's journey, by Allen Say]. School Library Journal, 49(4), 104. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
 

Library Uses: Have the students conduct a research project on their country of origin.  Tell the students that just as the narrator of this story was originally from Japan, your family originally came from another country too.  Have the students interview a family member to determine who their first family member to come to America was and what their trip must have been like.  Have students research basic facts about their heritage country to share with the class in addition to the information they learned in their interview.