The Hello, Goodbye Window

Juster, N. (2005). The hello, goodbye window. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc..

I chose the picture book The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster because of the colorful cover. The bright yellow background with the oranges, reds, and greens really caught my attention. The cover artwork is done in an Impressionist style, and this continues throughout the book, including illustrations on the dedication page and the title page. The medium used by the illustrator appears to be water colors from the obvious brush strokes and from the parallel outer lines.

The story focuses on the narrator's grandparent's house, more specifically on the kitchen window. After reading the story it is easy to see how the title relates to the story. The story itself is simple and doesn't contain an actual conflict. It is more of a descriptive type of story, explaining why the window is important to the narrator, who remains nameless throughout the story. The narrator is a round character and reveals various aspects of her personality.

The composition of the artwork contains a lot of white space. This helps to provide definition to the objects and characters portrayed. This use of white space also adds the impression of brightness and light. While the white space offers some definition to particular items, it also demonstrates a lack of detail, which produces a vagueness that doesn't keep the reader focused on one particular thing too long. It adds a fluidity to the story.

The color choice also affects the story. For the most part, the illustrator uses a collection of bright, warm colors to convey a light and carefree mood. This choice of colors is used for the daytime and outdoor scenes, while darker, cooler colors are used for the nighttime scene in the center of the book. As soon as the story enters daytime again, the bright, warm colors return. The mood of the story is controlled by color choice.

The use of line is predominately vertical, conveying action and excitement. This also keeps the story moving forward effortlessly. In scenes where things settle and become quiet, such as in the napping scene and the nighttime scene, he utilizes horizontal lines to convey these feelings. He also incorporates swirls and curves effectively throughout the story. Overall, this Caldecott Medal winner is an easy read that should have no problem keeping the interest of the younger child.