Windows

If ever there were a perfect picture book to usher in the fall season, Windows would be it. As the days grow shorter, evenings are filled with colorful sunsets and a chill in the air. Leaves begin to turn shades of yellow and red, neighbors walk their dogs, and the rhythms of everyday life emerge throughout the neighborhood. There is a different cadence to these fall evenings, and the author captures and celebrates it beautifully. At its heart, the story explores themes of atmosphere, time, and the shared human experience. 

Households enter a new phase of the year, marked by the earlier arrival of dusk as summer’s long, sunny days are left behind. Dusk—that time just before nightfall, when daylight has nearly faded but the sky is not yet completely dark—provides the atmospheric backdrop for the story. It is a quiet, in-between moment that invites people outside: “You can take a walk, out your door into the almost-night.” 

Windows follows a journey that is simple yet relatable: a boy walking his dog at dusk as daylight gradually fades across successive pages. Time becomes visible through this slow transition, with each turn of the page moving the boy—and the reader—closer to night. The urban setting feels familiar and inviting, filled with houses, apartment buildings, shops, and parks, while the boy observes the evening routines of his neighbors. The illustrations reinforce this sense of passing time, encouraging readers to notice subtle changes from one moment to the next. Throughout the walk, the boy’s white dog remains a bright, familiar presence as the sky darkens. 

Readers are invited to look beyond the boy’s journey and into the lives unfolding around him. The illustrations reveal windows “blinking awake as the lights turn on inside: a neighborhood of paper lanterns.” Each offers a glimpse of another household and another story. Even dwellings with no lights on inspire imagination rather than uncertainty; they are “empty and leave you to fill them up with stories.” Together, these glimpses create a gentle sense of connection between neighbors, homes, and lives unfolding side by side. 

Artwork fills every page, rewarding readers who linger over the scenes: a little girl gazing from an upstairs window, a woman sweeping her porch while her dog watches from inside, a couple dancing, or a man playing the piano. Created with ink, watercolor, letterpress, and digital collage, the illustrations move across the pages with the same natural rhythm as the text. As the sun slips below the horizon, vivid skies contrast beautifully with the dark silhouettes of buildings, giving the neighborhood an increasingly dramatic sense of depth and atmosphere. 

The final page brings the boy home to the warm glow of a softly lit living room, while the curtains are drawn back to reveal the dark street beyond. Curled together in an armchair, the boy and his mother read a book as his white dog sleeps nearby. The ending brings the journey full circle—from looking into the lives of others to returning to the comfort of his own home. Windows shines as a read-aloud, where thoughtful pacing allows the visual storytelling to unfold with warmth and meaning. 

Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• None

Language  

• None 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• None 

by Maureen Lowe