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Windows
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Walking his dog at dusk, one boy catches glimpses of the lives around him in this lovely ode to autumn evenings, exploring your neighborhood, and coming home.
Before your city goes to sleep, you might head out for a walk, your dog at your side as you go out the door and into the almost-night. Anything can happen on such a walk: you might pass a cat, or a friend, or even an ...more
Before your city goes to sleep, you might head out for a walk, your dog at your side as you go out the door and into the almost-night. Anything can happen on such a walk: you might pass a cat, or a friend, or even an ...more
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3.5 stars. The sun is setting and a boy takes his dog for a walk past the other houses where he lives. The illustrations are nice, some lovely colours and patterns, sunsets and lighted windows. The boy looks at the houses and sees the inhabitants doing different activities in their evening before returning home.
You can't help but love this lovely picture book of a child exploring his little world, a little world filled with hundreds of other worlds, all beautifully framed in a window. And it gently, oh-so-gently, promotes all the wonderful values we would share with children---neighborhoods, stories, imagination, and home.
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At first glance, one would think this is simply a book about seeing into the windows of one's neighborhood as the day ends and the lights inside come on revealing activities at the close of day. However, as you ponder the pictures and text it leads one to contemplate just what is really going on inside the rooms alight and revealing the lives of those around us.
We see that they, just as we, putter about their homes doing the mundane chores and being involved in the act of daily living. Just as ...more
We see that they, just as we, putter about their homes doing the mundane chores and being involved in the act of daily living. Just as ...more
Lovely! I so enjoyed going along on this evening walk and seeing everything from "an early raccoon taking a bath in squares of yellow light" to a homemade telephone strung between two windows "used for good ideas" :-) The way the lit up windows tell little stories about the people behind them -- or how "others are empty and leave you to fill them up with stories." I especially loved the sweet and cozy ending.
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4* art
4* text
Squirt and I like walking at night and seeing people in their windows. Last night we did this, and our neighbour who was doing her dishes, waved to us. This book is a lovely way to remind ourselves of the pleasures of every day (or evening) life.
4* text
Squirt and I like walking at night and seeing people in their windows. Last night we did this, and our neighbour who was doing her dishes, waved to us. This book is a lovely way to remind ourselves of the pleasures of every day (or evening) life.
Ever since I was a kid, I've always been fascinated with windows lit up in the night. Driving through familiar or unfamiliar neighborhoods, to catch a small glimpse into someone's house is to catch a fleeting moment of story waiting to be told. Windows honors those fleeting stories by making us ponder them for just a few seconds longer.
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This is a lovely, quiet book that celebrates the simple magic and joy in everyday things that comes so easily to children, but which we seem to lose as we grow older.
However, since this book is partly about seeing others going about their lives in their homes, a possible discussion topic is the need to respect others' privacy and the best ways to do this. ...more
However, since this book is partly about seeing others going about their lives in their homes, a possible discussion topic is the need to respect others' privacy and the best ways to do this. ...more
I love the illustrations and colours in this book! They have chosen to set the story at dusk, sunset, which allows for these beautiful colours. A young boy is walking around his town, looking in windows and exploring other peoples lives. Interestingly, this is written in 2nd person. The word 'you' allows the reader to follow this path with the character. There are opportunities to consider and write about other families, houses and what is happening in the windows.
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All of the windows with a range of different cultures and experiences behind them for a variety of children to relate to. This diversity is welcomed and it is such a sweet book. The detail in the illustrations invite children to ask a lot of questions too.
This book would make a great mentor text for teaching young students how to write about small moments.
Picture book, fiction
Interest level: Pre-K through grade 1
3 out of 5 stars
Windows captures that moment, as the sun starts to set in the evening, when people turn lights on in houses and the scenes of daily life are clearly illuminated to anyone passing by. The story begins as a child takes a dog for a walk and the reader tags along on a tour through the neighborhood.
As we move along, we wit ...more
Picture book, fiction
Interest level: Pre-K through grade 1
3 out of 5 stars
Windows captures that moment, as the sun starts to set in the evening, when people turn lights on in houses and the scenes of daily life are clearly illuminated to anyone passing by. The story begins as a child takes a dog for a walk and the reader tags along on a tour through the neighborhood.
As we move along, we wit ...more
Jul 22, 2019
Abigail
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Window Watchers / Readers Looking for New Bedtime Stories
Shelves:
picture-books,
bedtime-stories
A young boy sets out for a twilight walk with his dog in this lovely picture-book from author Julia Denos and first-time illustrator E.B. Goodale. His walk takes him through his diverse neighborhood, and past numerous windows glowing with light, windows which give a glimpse into the lives of those within...
As someone who loves to walk past lit up windows at night, who enjoys catching the glimpses they afford of different lives and different worlds, I found Windows immensely charming. I can't thi ...more
As someone who loves to walk past lit up windows at night, who enjoys catching the glimpses they afford of different lives and different worlds, I found Windows immensely charming. I can't thi ...more
An illustrated love letter to Somerville, MA if ever there was one, but this book lends itself to any area that has that neighborhood feel--where you may not know everyone who lives on your block, but you feel a community and kinship with them regardless.
Denos's prose is poetic, descriptive, and concise, cozy even. A favorite line, paired with a darkened and shuttered house in an overgrown part of the neighborhood: "Other[ window]s are empty and leave you to fill them up with stories."
Share wit ...more
Denos's prose is poetic, descriptive, and concise, cozy even. A favorite line, paired with a darkened and shuttered house in an overgrown part of the neighborhood: "Other[ window]s are empty and leave you to fill them up with stories."
Share wit ...more
Grabbed this to browse while filling in @ Youth desk. So lush and simple at the same time. I have fond memories of walks in my neighborhood with my mom, just after dinner/dusk so we could peek in to other people's houses. It captures this moment perfectly!
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A warm little book about neighborhoods and the people within them. It's a story about a child walking through a neighborhood and noticing people in the windows, but not necessarily looking in the windows, if that makes sense, avoiding a peeping tom/Rear Window vibe.
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LOVED this one. So simple, yet so true.
Julia Denos has written a book about one of my favorite visuals: glowing windows in a neighorhood at dusk. A boy walks his dog in the evening and contemplates the slices of life offered by the windows. Props to illustrator E.B. Goodale for finding ways to vary the composition over many page turns. Just beautiful.
I thought it perfectly encapsulated that in-between time of day and night and you can see what's happening in your neighborhood.
I especially like that once they child is done walking the dog, they sit with their parent and read books from their bookshelf.
Done in ink, watercolor, letterpress, and digital college. ...more
I especially like that once they child is done walking the dog, they sit with their parent and read books from their bookshelf.
Done in ink, watercolor, letterpress, and digital college. ...more
Beautiful! And if you're like me, the rhyme on the first page should end with "and peep, peep, peep"!
"At the end of the day, before the town goes to sleep, you can look out the window..."
Sadly the author isn't QUITE as much of a peeping Tom as I am but is clearly leaning that direction! ...more
"At the end of the day, before the town goes to sleep, you can look out the window..."
Sadly the author isn't QUITE as much of a peeping Tom as I am but is clearly leaning that direction! ...more
This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!
Hello, friends! Our book today is Windows, written by Julia Denos and illustrated by E.B. Goodale, a lovely twilight meditation on people and community.
When you look at your window as the sun goes down, at just the right time, you will begin to see a light show coming to life. As the dark of night begins to take the sky, people turn on their lights, and you can stroll through the neighborhood ( ...more
I liked this book since its about exploring your neighborhood and enjoying the place where you live. The story centers on knowing what happens in your neighborhood when the sun goes down. The more familiar you are with your surroundings, the more comfortable and secure you feel. As the boy in this novel puts on his red jacket and grabs the leash for his dog, the lights in his neighborhood windows are coming alive. As he sees familiar objects out on his walk, and he understands the noises that he
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I've been looking for beautifully illustrated, meaningful picture books to give to my five- and seven-year-old neighbors for the holidays. This simple story about a child's walk through the local neighborhood and all the things one can see there might fit the bill. It's a lovely book that conveys a sense of comfort and belonging through its vision of a community where everyone is doing something different, yet all are participating and contributing and active. The little peek that we have into t
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A lovely, quiet book.
At dusk, a little boy takes a walk around his neighborhood, thinking about all the life that goes on behind the different windows. The art is so soothing, lush and pretty -- I thought it depicted a not-entirely-gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, but no, it is Somerville, MA, where I lived for a summer. Shout out to Somerville! You look amazing!
I liked that the mom, who is clearly paying attention (she watches him go through their window, and welcomes him home the same way), ...more
At dusk, a little boy takes a walk around his neighborhood, thinking about all the life that goes on behind the different windows. The art is so soothing, lush and pretty -- I thought it depicted a not-entirely-gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, but no, it is Somerville, MA, where I lived for a summer. Shout out to Somerville! You look amazing!
I liked that the mom, who is clearly paying attention (she watches him go through their window, and welcomes him home the same way), ...more
I didn't really like this one. The art didn't connect with me. I liked following the kid as he walked his dog around the neighborhood. But the whole concept of windows and looking through them kinda creeped me out. The last two pages were adorable though. I'd recommend this for a finishing book at story time.
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I really like how this book displays that through every window you can see that every person lives a different life. Nothing that goes on through windows is ever the same or what people have in their houses is the same. I like that it ends happily with someone you love waiting at home for you in the window that loves you however I think that this could be sensitive for some children and I would use this with a class I knew well.
A simple back that subtly encourages the readers imagination to dip into each window and imagine different stories. A great book that discreetly encapsulates diversity and is very true to the nature of living in a built up urban are!
There are also some great cross curricular links that could be further explored in this book. It really reminded me of the book Window by Jeannie Baker, both books explore the environment in different ways but by using the concept of a window or windows.
There are also some great cross curricular links that could be further explored in this book. It really reminded me of the book Window by Jeannie Baker, both books explore the environment in different ways but by using the concept of a window or windows.
This is such a sweet book. A little boy takes his dog out for a walk just as the sun is setting and as he goes around the neighborhood he notices the windows, illuminated from within. Each window frames a moment; a family sitting down for dinner, a person playing the piano or enjoying a book and a mug of tea - the warmth of the neighborhood and the joy of coming home are the main themes.
I loved the simple premise of this story and the illustrations! What can I say - I'm also fascinated by people watching and you can observe a lot through windows and imagine the lives that take place inside.
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Beautifully written and illustrated. I've always loved walking in the evening/night, seeing lit up windows and peering into family's lives and homes for a moment. Always seems cozy and homey. This would be a great book for writing workshop to invite kids into story-writing.
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I really liked this book that is about all different windows and what is going on behind them. It has a lovely message about all the different things that are going on in the world around us behind all those windows.
Sweet and a lovely story to read with a child especially there are things to find and discuss in the pictures that enrich the text.
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