Windows

A new classic!
Windows has the sumptuous feel of previous picture book classics, such as Ezra Jack Keats.
I predict that Julia Denos will be a Caldecott winner someday!

  ‘'At the end of the day, before the town goes to sleep,you can look out of your window and see more little windows lit up like eyes in the duskblinking away as the lights turn on insidea neighbourhood of paper lanterns.''
Most of my classes finish around 7 in the evening. Night slowly makes her mysterious presence known and through the train windows, you can see the houses coming to life as the orange lights call for you to look, to spy. (No mobile phone for me while commuting, thank you very much!) And I obey. I look for that unusual painting, or lamp, or a vividly-painted wall, or a bookcase full of books. But what attracts my attention is the life that can be contained within the walls of a house. The love, the hopes, the fears, the dreams. I've always been fascinated by dusk and the time when the windows lit up. My strolls in the neighbourhood always take place during the blue hour. Even though the houses are the same, the windows are the same, the people are the same, each time feels like an exciting discovery and the warmth in my heart never fades.
In this beautiful book, we take a walk in a serene yet lively neighbourhood, guided by a boy and his dog. During a quiet, autumnal evening, our stroll becomes a journey of understanding what it means to belong to a community. The fairy lights on the porch, children returning home, a dance school, an impromptu party in a basement, shops closing, friends reuniting, couples sharing the burden of the day, hugs, laughter, the perfume of a dinner that has just been prepared, the humming of the TV or the radio, the moon that appears to remind us that the time to rest has come. Tomorrow, we start again. For now, the soft caramel lights are waiting to ease our weary minds...
This lovely gem, created by Julia Denos and E.B.Goodale will make you grab your shows and take a soothing walk. And I promise you, you will see everything in a new light.
‘'Then you arrive home again,and you look at your window from the outside.Someone you love is waving at you,and you can't wait to go in.So you do.''
My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/
 

good story, nice illustration

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.