WINDOWS

Windows by Julia Denos and EB Goodale is such a beautiful book from end to end — the case cover, the dust jacket, the endpapers all come together perfectly to create a  window into the lives of the people in this neighborhood, and that's 100% due to the perfect balance between text and illustration.

The premise of the book is so perfectly simple: a boy walks his dog at sunset and observes the evening habits of his neighbors. Of course, author Denos knows the key to a good book is an equal balance between words and images, and it's clear she put a lot of thought into how she could best create a story but still leave her illustrator plenty of room to take charge of the visual story. The illustrations are ink, watercolor, letterpress, and digital collage, and they flow across the pages just as smoothly as the text does. It's easy to get wrapped up in looking at the sunset, but Goodale does a smart job of keeping the observer's eyes on other details as well: neighbors sweeping their porches, kids skateboarding home, and families getting ready for dinner. There's so much to look at on every page that it's almost too easy to find yourself staring at a spread for a few moments. The book itself is a window into the lives of the people who live in this neighborhood, and the sunset acts as the perfect backdrop for Denos and Goodale to capture relatable moments in time to share with readers.

Windows published from Candlewick Press last month.

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