Kirkus, starred review
"Denos’ story is quiet, thoughtful, and paced to the beat of a gentle rhythm. Debut illustrator Goodale’s delicately detailed ink, watercolor, letterpress, and digital collage illustrations display palettes of the evening and night skies with beautifully nuanced shades of yellow, gold, and blue. The red-hooded child of color with dog can’t help but recall Peter and Willie, and this book is a lovely, affirming follow-up." Full review here.
School Library Journal, starred review
"Readers will want to revisit these pages of impressionistic trees, buildings that blur as they recede into the vanishing point, and captivating combinations of fully realized scenes with transparent objects outlined in delicate lines. The narrative ends with a quickening step toward the loved one waving behind the curtain—and a story shared in a snuggle. This evocative portrait elevates an everyday routine to a wonder-filled walk of discovery. Perfect for one-on-one and small group sharing." Full review here.
The Horn Book, starred review
Review coming Nov. 2017
Booklist, starred review
As nighttime falls, a brown-skinned kid, who could be a boy or a girl, in a cheery red hoodie (surely an homage to Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day) takes a dog for a walk down a densely populated city street. In dusky building facades, glowing windows reveal snippets of life within, and with a lyrical, whispery tone, the narrative directly invites the reader, like the protagonist, to find delight and wonder in the neighborhood’s activity. Goodale’s arresting artwork does most of the heavy lifting here, with a sky progressing from the pale pastels just before sunset to the fiery orange and pink glow of a setting sun to the deep blues and purples of a darkening night. The cityscape is lively in front of Goodale’s aqueous skies, and the variety of people quietly emphasizes the diversity of the child’s neighborhood—families prepare dinner, construction workers tidy up a site, couples take dance lessons, a yoga class stretches, and a pair of kids in neighboring houses talk on a tin-can telephone strung between their windows. It’s a genial take on city life, which makes the neighborhood seem just as comforting as home, though the child’s home—just as luminescent as the windows he or she passes—is surely the most comforting of all. Ideal bedtime reading and a gorgeously understated celebration of everyday enchantment. — Sarah Hunter
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review
"Haven’t we all done it? Looked into the gleaming lit-up windows as we walk down darkened streets, marveling at what seem to be dramatic set designs and glamorous drama within? That’s the practice of our nameless protagonist, a boy who, as the sun sets, takes his dog out for a walk along the street where windows are “lit up like eyes in the dusk.” The serene second-person narration effectively sets the mood, with swift description (he encounters “an early raccoon taking a bath in squares of yellow light”) balancing effectively with simple declarative statement as the boy encounters roaming cats, passes other promenaders, and, most importantly, gets a different look at his neighborhood... Windows offers a similar achievement in its reframing of the everyday as something special, and beautiful, and worthy of attention; it makes everyday lives into a cozy art that we can all view and all make." Full review here.