When You Look Out the Window

Pitman, G. E., (2017). When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community. Washington, DC: Magination Press.

40 Pages, Grades 2 - 3, Age 4 - 8 years old, Picture Book/Biography/Historical Fiction, ISBN: 978-1433827365

This book talks about Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who were one of the most famous lesbian couples in San Francisco. They were also very active politically in their time. They met each other in the year of 1950, and they became a couple afterward. They bought a house that is located at the top of the Castro; thus, they could overlook the entire city. The clue of the story in this book follows a tour of several different landmarks in San Francisco. Del and Phyllis went to each of the landmarks in this book and left their unique marks on each of them. One of an example would be the most well-known and iconic structure in the city, the Golden Gate Bridge. The story ends with a gratifying scene, which dedicates the community of big rainbow.

After reading the whole story, I do like some aspects of this book, but there are also some points I dislike about. First of all, I really appreciate the theme of this book, and I do believe this book can be used as a good Social Studies teaching source when you want to teach kids about LGBTQ history. I also like the illustration of this book, which is combined both drawing and photography on each page. IT stood out to me at the first time I read it. However, I had a question about the illustration of this book. I noticed there is a photo of a walking man on the several pages. I wonder if it has any secret meaning behind it. Another point that I do not like about this book is I think it did not really explain the process of how Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin build the community, even though the title of this book is When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community. I would not recommend kids to read this book on their own.