Windows

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 12, 2018

Review

This book is an evening walk through a quiet neighborhood. From endpaper to endpaper (actually starting with the gorgeous the cover under the dust jacket), this book is filled with small details that an attentive reader/listener will return to again and again. The book follows a boy as he takes his dog out for their evening walk. The boy observes the myriad lives happening all around his neighborhood as the author gently points out a few of the glimpses to the audience before backing away and letting the reader discover all of the other details. The book simultaneously offers a bedtime/winding down story and a lovely jumping-off point for a discussion about windows into people's lives. It could be used to kick off a literature study about books offering windows and mirrors. There is a striking lack of electronic devices in the book; barring one mention of a television, all of the scenes are of people eating together, moving their bodies (at the dog park, dancing, doing yoga), or just looking out the window and watching the world. And when the boy returns home, he curls up with his parent to listen to a story. A gentle, effective book that is filled with and can lead to discovery. Recommend for any general library collection.

Overall Book Score: excellent