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[CCBC-Net] Hello, Goodbye Window
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From: Linnea Hendrickson <Lhendr>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 11:21:20 -0700
I, too, shared "The Hello, Goodbye Window" with numerous classes, grades K-3 last week, and response was extremely positive. We talked about the fact that the story is told in the voice of the little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years-old. I suggested to the older children that this book would probably be perfect for kids a bit younger than they are, but that I thought they'd enjoy it, too. Even in the opening spread -- title page, maybe? I don't have a copy with me -- the children noted that the parents looked a little worried, not entirely happy, and the little girl is so happy she's leaping into the air, her hair flying as she runs to the grandparents' house.
One thing that surprised me was that when I read the part about taking a bath in the kitchen sink, the children invariably started murmuring and bursting out with "me too's" and their hands started waving. When asked what they liked best about the book, answers ranged from "the hello, goodbye window" to the "tiger" hiding in the garden, to poppy spraying the hose when she said, stop and then do it again. Some liked the tyrannosaurus rex, and some the queen. Some liked the grandparents. Many identified with the experience of visiting grandparents, sometimes overnight.
I, too, like the picture with the stars -- I had a hard time reading the line "Do you know how many stars there are?" without many of the children volunteering numbers ranging from "hundreds" to "a thousand" to to "millions." I suggested to some of them that they try to find out how many stars there are, and let me know when they had the answer. (I haven't heard back from anybody yet.)
I love the warmth and feeling of calm of the nap time scene, and the line the nothing will happen until I wake up. This line works on different levels depending on the age and understanding of the audience. I love the suggestion in the illustrations that this is a multiracial family. And I love the line about being happy and sad at the same time, which seems to me to be the nature of goodbyes.
I could say much more about the art and the feelings it creates, but I'm out of time.
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 11:21:20 -0700
I, too, shared "The Hello, Goodbye Window" with numerous classes, grades K-3 last week, and response was extremely positive. We talked about the fact that the story is told in the voice of the little girl, maybe 4 or 5 years-old. I suggested to the older children that this book would probably be perfect for kids a bit younger than they are, but that I thought they'd enjoy it, too. Even in the opening spread -- title page, maybe? I don't have a copy with me -- the children noted that the parents looked a little worried, not entirely happy, and the little girl is so happy she's leaping into the air, her hair flying as she runs to the grandparents' house.
One thing that surprised me was that when I read the part about taking a bath in the kitchen sink, the children invariably started murmuring and bursting out with "me too's" and their hands started waving. When asked what they liked best about the book, answers ranged from "the hello, goodbye window" to the "tiger" hiding in the garden, to poppy spraying the hose when she said, stop and then do it again. Some liked the tyrannosaurus rex, and some the queen. Some liked the grandparents. Many identified with the experience of visiting grandparents, sometimes overnight.
I, too, like the picture with the stars -- I had a hard time reading the line "Do you know how many stars there are?" without many of the children volunteering numbers ranging from "hundreds" to "a thousand" to to "millions." I suggested to some of them that they try to find out how many stars there are, and let me know when they had the answer. (I haven't heard back from anybody yet.)
I love the warmth and feeling of calm of the nap time scene, and the line the nothing will happen until I wake up. This line works on different levels depending on the age and understanding of the audience. I love the suggestion in the illustrations that this is a multiracial family. And I love the line about being happy and sad at the same time, which seems to me to be the nature of goodbyes.
I could say much more about the art and the feelings it creates, but I'm out of time.
-- Linnea Linnea Hendrickson Albuquerque, NM Lhendr at unm.edu http://www.unm.edu/~lhendrReceived on Fri 10 Feb 2006 12:21:20 PM CST
