Personal Response: What a perfectly sweet story for all ages! The Hello, Goodbye Window is a lovely story about a young girl visiting her grandparents (Nanna and Poppy). Chris Raschka portrays a mix-race family who has an imaginative and fun-loving little girl. I love the simplicity of the story, yet what a great book to use with young students to talk about what they do with their families. I read it to my young nephews and my first-graders and everyone loved the illustrations. This book also won The Caldecott Medal for its distinctive illustrations and use of art.
Evaluation as Literature: Using the “Choosing Children’s Books” section in Children’s Literature Briefly, The Hello, Goodbye Window meets all the criteria for a good book. This book teaches a lesson about enjoying family time, it has large, colorful illustrations, there is not any harshness, swearing, or scariness, and it has simple vocabulary, familiar content, and has appropriate values and social views represented. In addition, it meets the criteria for literary quality. The mood is very gentle throughout the book and has great characters that children of all ages will be able to connect to.
Evaluation as multicultural literature: This book does not mention any multicultural views; however, through the vibrant illustrations it is clear that the characters are a mixed-race family. This book demonstrates cultural authenticity, as the family is similar to families all over the world, regardless of culture. Students will get a warm sense of family time and hopefully will be able to make some personal connections.
Use in the classroom: As mentioned above, I read this book to my young nephews and my class of first graders. My nephews, ages 3 and 5 loved the colorful illustrations and made a plethora of connections about their Grandma and Grandpa. They loved how the little girl was so curious and had a great imagination. My first graders also loved the story and enjoyed the silly parts. I used the story mostly as a simple, fun read aloud; however, I also had my students talk and write about what they like to do with their family. Based on students’ families and personal experiences, students were able to delve into their memories and share a special time when they slept over their grandparents’ house or another special small moment in their lives.
Book 1: The Hello, Goodbye Window Written by: Norton Juster Illustrated by: Chris Raschka Copyright date: 2005 Genre: Realistic Fiction *Caldecott Medal
Book 2: As Good As Anybody Written by: Richard Michelson Illustrated by Raul Colon Copyright date: 2008 Genre: Biography * Multicultural and Sydney Taylor Book Award
Personal Response: Ok … I just finished reading this book and my eyes are still filled with water! What an amazing story!!! Sometimes I forget how powerful books can truly be and this one is definitely a winner. Richard Michelson did an amazing job showing the connection between Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel and it fit nicely within the 36 page-picture book. As Good as Anybody has such an important message of hope and equality. The ending truly touched me as the words long in my head, “In this world, their family, friends, and followers are still marching.” What a terrific message. I also love the line, “As Good as Anybody,” and I think this is an imperative message to give children around the world, no matter where they live or what they look like. I believe we, as educators need to convey the message that all people are created equal and our children need to believe in themselves. This message is not only heard in the words throughout the book, but Raul Colon also did an amazing job on the illustrations, as they portrayed the message beautifully. The images truly captured the mood in the story and it was nice to see the pictures and words go hand-in-hand.
Evaluation as Literature: Based on the criteria, I would rate this book as a fantastic piece of literature. It had all the great elements of a story. This biography was more than a story of two men who changed the world; it was also about love and hope for everyone in our world. This message shines through on each page as the words seem to lift right off the page. The dialogue was done nicely, as it reveals more about each character. There was also music in the language and the sounds of the words increased the appeal of the story, as there were repeated tones and patterns. (Tunnel&Jacobs, 2008). The details were keen and the vocabulary was suitable for young readers.
Evaluation as multicultural literature: Based on differences of ethnicity of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s, this book was a wonderful example of a multicultural piece of literature. As this book is a Biography, the cultural details were represented accurately. Even though multicultural books should omit racial or cultural stereotyping, I think this book had to show some racial stereotypes, as the white bus driver was mean and ignorant and the white people were shown negatively. However, I think this needed to be done because it was a part of history and unfortunately many white men did not open their eyes until laws were put in place.
Use in the classroom: This would be a wonderful addition to any classroom library. Students in 3rd grade –high school could easily read this book and make many connections to MLK and AJH. This would be a great book to read during Black History Month, during Jewish Holidays, when discussing the civil rights, MLK, segregation, or any time of the year. For my use as a first-grade teacher, I plan on incorporating parts of this book as a read aloud when we discussion equality. In previous years, my students thrive on learning about MLK and I think this will be a great addition to that unit.
Lets see if this works.
ReplyDeleteThe Hello, Goodbye Window
ReplyDeletePersonal Response:
What a perfectly sweet story for all ages! The Hello, Goodbye Window is a lovely story about a young girl visiting her grandparents (Nanna and Poppy). Chris Raschka portrays a mix-race family who has an imaginative and fun-loving little girl. I love the simplicity of the story, yet what a great book to use with young students to talk about what they do with their families. I read it to my young nephews and my first-graders and everyone loved the illustrations. This book also won The Caldecott Medal for its distinctive illustrations and use of art.
Evaluation as Literature:
Using the “Choosing Children’s Books” section in Children’s Literature Briefly, The Hello, Goodbye Window meets all the criteria for a good book. This book teaches a lesson about enjoying family time, it has large, colorful illustrations, there is not any harshness, swearing, or scariness, and it has simple vocabulary, familiar content, and has appropriate values and social views represented. In addition, it meets the criteria for literary quality. The mood is very gentle throughout the book and has great characters that children of all ages will be able to connect to.
Evaluation as multicultural literature: This book does not mention any multicultural views; however, through the vibrant illustrations it is clear that the characters are a mixed-race family. This book demonstrates cultural authenticity, as the family is similar to families all over the world, regardless of culture. Students will get a warm sense of family time and hopefully will be able to make some personal connections.
Use in the classroom: As mentioned above, I read this book to my young nephews and my class of first graders. My nephews, ages 3 and 5 loved the colorful illustrations and made a plethora of connections about their Grandma and Grandpa. They loved how the little girl was so curious and had a great imagination. My first graders also loved the story and enjoyed the silly parts. I used the story mostly as a simple, fun read aloud; however, I also had my students talk and write about what they like to do with their family. Based on students’ families and personal experiences, students were able to delve into their memories and share a special time when they slept over their grandparents’ house or another special small moment in their lives.
***** Stars for a GOOD BOOK!
Table of Contents
ReplyDeleteBook 1: The Hello, Goodbye Window
Written by: Norton Juster
Illustrated by: Chris Raschka
Copyright date: 2005
Genre: Realistic Fiction
*Caldecott Medal
Book 2: As Good As Anybody
Written by: Richard Michelson
Illustrated by Raul Colon
Copyright date: 2008
Genre: Biography
* Multicultural and Sydney Taylor Book Award
As Good as Anybody
ReplyDeletePersonal Response: Ok … I just finished reading this book and my eyes are still filled with water! What an amazing story!!! Sometimes I forget how powerful books can truly be and this one is definitely a winner. Richard Michelson did an amazing job showing the connection between Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel and it fit nicely within the 36 page-picture book. As Good as Anybody has such an important message of hope and equality. The ending truly touched me as the words long in my head, “In this world, their family, friends, and followers are still marching.” What a terrific message. I also love the line, “As Good as Anybody,” and I think this is an imperative message to give children around the world, no matter where they live or what they look like. I believe we, as educators need to convey the message that all people are created equal and our children need to believe in themselves. This message is not only heard in the words throughout the book, but Raul Colon also did an amazing job on the illustrations, as they portrayed the message beautifully. The images truly captured the mood in the story and it was nice to see the pictures and words go hand-in-hand.
Evaluation as Literature: Based on the criteria, I would rate this book as a fantastic piece of literature. It had all the great elements of a story. This biography was more than a story of two men who changed the world; it was also about love and hope for everyone in our world. This message shines through on each page as the words seem to lift right off the page. The dialogue was done nicely, as it reveals more about each character. There was also music in the language and the sounds of the words increased the appeal of the story, as there were repeated tones and patterns. (Tunnel&Jacobs, 2008). The details were keen and the vocabulary was suitable for young readers.
Evaluation as multicultural literature: Based on differences of ethnicity of Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s, this book was a wonderful example of a multicultural piece of literature. As this book is a Biography, the cultural details were represented accurately. Even though multicultural books should omit racial or cultural stereotyping, I think this book had to show some racial stereotypes, as the white bus driver was mean and ignorant and the white people were shown negatively. However, I think this needed to be done because it was a part of history and unfortunately many white men did not open their eyes until laws were put in place.
Use in the classroom: This would be a wonderful addition to any classroom library. Students in 3rd grade –high school could easily read this book and make many connections to MLK and AJH. This would be a great book to read during Black History Month, during Jewish Holidays, when discussing the civil rights, MLK, segregation, or any time of the year. For my use as a first-grade teacher, I plan on incorporating parts of this book as a read aloud when we discussion equality. In previous years, my students thrive on learning about MLK and I think this will be a great addition to that unit.