Outside My Window

by Linda Ashman, Jamey Christoph (Illustrator)

Overview

A joyous glimpse into different cultures 

Children living in different parts of the world see very different things when they gaze out of their windows. One child looks out over a boulevard lined with palm trees, another sees a train whistling past snow-capped mountains, and another waves to her father as he tends to their garden. But while their lives may seem different, there’s something important that they all share. 

This beautiful book will spark readers’ curiosity and imagina­tion with its celebration of global diversity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802854650
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	09/25/2018
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	NC930L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Linda Ashman has written more than thirty-five picture books, including Rain! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and most recently William's Winter Nap (Disney-Hyperion). Her books have been featured in "best of the year" lists from the New York Times, Parenting Magazine, the New York Public Library, and more. She lives with her family in North Carolina. Visit her website at www.lindaashman.com.

Jamey Christoph has had his artwork featured in several major publications, including the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. His previous books for children include Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America. (Albert Whitman). He lives in Ohio with his two dogs. Visit his website at www.jameychristoph.com.

Editorial Reviews

2018-07-30

A little girl describes the idyllic scene outside her window and wonders, "What's outside your window?"

The book presents children gazing out their windows, waving from riverbanks, and peeking from gates in locales all over the world. Straightforward text complements the equally direct digital illustrations as the page turns reveal pops of color within a mainly pastel palette. Life for children across the globe is expressed simply by their descriptions of what's right outside their windows in their immediate environments. While this concept is lovely, it also simplifies nuanced experiences of children living in diverse settings. The book ends as the young brown-skinned girl who started the book with her question wonders at the bigness of the world, which becomes a little smaller, a little more interconnected when she looks "up at the moon we share." It's a sweet ending that would be inspiring if the conflation of vastly different experiences by emphasizing the sameness of a shared celestial body wasn't such a tired trope. The existence of racially diverse characters and the inclusion of a list of the locations noted in the book don't accomplish the author's stated goal of enabling readers to understand that "looking out someone's window—like ‘walking in someone's shoes'—helps us understand a person's life and circumstances."

A shallow, worn exploration of diverse experiences. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews