Window

Product Information

This is the almost wordless story of a boy growing up in the country that becomes a much more populated area, has a baby of his own, back in another area that’s undeveloped, yet with development slated to soon start.

I think this book had a major impact upon the children, emphasising the importance of protecting our rainforests and the impact of urbanisation. Jeannie Baker is an English-born Australian children's picture book author and artist, known for her collage illustrations and her concern for the natural environment. Decay in the garden accompanies a missile hung from the window, a boy aiming a catapult, mac Donald's packets on the windowsill.

Checklist: students will be given a checklist which will include what they arerequired to complete in the lesson. If you are under 16, please obtain your parent/guardian’s permission before submitting or ask your parent/guardian to submit on your behalf. Page by page, we experience the lives of two little boys – one from an urban family in Sydney, Australia, the other from Morocco. Experienced readers can find reading wordless texts challenging so make your thoughts audible by thinking aloud. The book is composed of double-page spread collages created by Baker which together provide a narrative through a boy's life, or create a complex scene as stand-alone pieces.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and their custodianship of the lands on which we work and live. Baker was the IBBY Australian nominee for the prestigious 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration. Formerly a teacher (secondary and primary) and university lecturer, with over 40 years’ experience, Nikki is Director of Just Imagine. Children willbe asked what a collage is, being reminded that a collage is a piece of artworkthat is able to be made using particular amounts of different pieces, which arethen glued together.The detailed changing images throughout the book could be a great stimulus for teaching about the environment, or as starting points for discussion. In the first panel a woman stands at the window, holding a baby, looking out at bush teeming with bird life and plants, with wooded hills beyond. Children would have to reach into their imagination to think about how the characters might think or feel about their environment, thus developing their sense of empathy in the process. Thiswill lead to the introduction of Jeannie Baker, an artist and author who hasbeen very successful with the creation of many picture books, including Window, Mirrorand Where the Forest Meets the Sea(Walker Books).

The iconic wordless picture book, Window by Jeannie Baker, is perfect for use in KS1 or KS2 to inspire discussion and descriptive writing. In this learning opportunity, students will focus on the particular artelements of shape, texture and colour, expanding their knowledge of these elements. A think aloud using a wordless picture book will encourage readers to slow down and focus on details. Choose one of the images and create a plan view map showing the places that you can see through the window. But I also hope they’ll have an understanding of the way everything is related, how once you destroy the native vegetation of a place, the native birds aren’t going to come there anymore, the native animals aren’t going to come there anymore, even the insects.But if enough people make changes like that, those small changes together in fact make one big change. Another suggestion would be to draw other items separate (teddy-bears, toys), cut them out and glue to the window sill. The simple truth is that even with all these differences, in the ways that really matter, we are all the same. The resource is a template of a window frame which can be enlarged to an A3 for an art lesson linked to Literacy.

I try to show in the book that we’re all part of the changes that are happening in Australia and in the world as a whole.The next step is to explicitly show students how they can use this strategy to monitor their own comprehension. Some readers might not have that moment until the last page, or until the author's note at the end, but it's important, unmistakable, and memorable, once realized. Baker's carefully assembled collages are impactful as enable the reader to realise that the small changes made to the environment add up to produce threatening outcomes. The most important children’s books combine entertainment and enjoyability with a more meaningful message; educating children not only in terms of literacy, but about the world around them.