Voices in the Park

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Did you learn more about each character as you read the book? How did your opinion of each character change? The symmetry of the composition of full bleed illustrations of this story contribute to general creepiness, much like paintings by Italian artist Alessandro Tofanelli. Alessandro Tofanelli, Italian surrealist landscape painter. For more examples of his work see here. STORY STRUCTURE OF VOICES IN THE PARK Colorful photographs chronicle toddlers successfully making the transition from diapers to using the potty in My Potty Book for Boys and My Potty Book for Girls. Children will especially enjoy seeing Continue reading »

For aspiring equestrians, Riding School: Learn How to Ride at a Real Riding School, by Catherine Saunders, photos by David Handley, presents the riding lessons of three girls and a boy. Beginning Continue reading » My Dad by Anthony Browne now appears in a paper-over-board miniature edition. Of the original, PW said, ""With well-measured doses of hyperbole, sentiment and humor, Browne delivers an endearing Continue reading » Like any book we discuss, the goal of critical literacy is to get the kids thinking about the text is a new way. The reason I enjoy this book is because there are four different perspectives, which helps the conversation later as you discuss more about who is telling the story. As you read more stories, even bedtime stories, you can ask the simple question, who is telling this story? Who is not represented -or- who’s voice is missing? Just making children away that stories can be told in multiple perspectives is key to starting to truly look at literature critically.The father searches the classifieds looking for a job, which will allow him to provide for his family. But because economic power is so connected to being a man, the fact that he has no hope of conforming to society’s expectation of ‘Man’, this exclusion has ostensibly afforded him a different kind of freedom. He can sit in a park during the daytime and spend time with his daughter. Lawanda Ingles, the appealing 15-year-old heroine of this resonant debut novel, dreams of being the first person in her family to attend college. Ignoring the scarcity of money in Cardin, Ky., she Continue reading » continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks Look at the illustrations and you’ll find bowler hats in trees and so on. What do hats symbolise in this particular story? Hats typically function as a mask — something you wear to present your omote to the world, hiding your ura (to use Japanese terms). The omote is your public self; the ura your private self. Anthony Browne has described Mrs Smythe as “dominant” and “militaristic” and explains that she loves her son but overprotects him. This is evident from what the girl says later, about how she won’t even let a dog smell her dog’s butt (something dogs don’t mind at all). Mrs Smythe wears the female version of a bowler hat. MR SMITH

Even the trees in the illustration below reflect the hunched posture of this father and daughter on the way to the park. In this lesson, children will focus on the first two Voices in the Park characters, Mummy and Dad, in more detail. As a class, they will read the first two chapters together and look for clues in what the characters say or do that can tell us more about them. The story portrays four viewpoints on a sequence of events that occur within a park which subsequently mean two families from different socioeconomic origins meet in a park. A boy called 'Charles' is struggling within an elitist, judgemental and restricted environment that doesn’t allow him to express himself and feel free. Due to his mothers oppressive nature his voice is being oppressed. The young girl from a lower socioeconomic status does, however, have more freedom, including a voice.explain and discuss their understanding of what they have read, including through formal presentations and debates, maintaining a focus on the topic and using notes where necessary The friendship between the children is blooming, but Browne highlights the difference in class between the two families. There’s the very working class Mr Smith (indicated by clothing, speech, home), and the wealthy status of Mrs Smith. Metafictive Devices paint pictures of an everyday scene in the local park or playground but change a few objects into something else (a tree might become a face);

In this final lesson, children recap on what they have learnt about each of the four characters in the book, and think about what the theme, or themes, of the story are. Surrealists put disparate objects together. In doing so, they help their audience to see objects we usually take for granted in a new way. The word for this is ‘ defamiliarisation‘. DK's My First Word Touch and Feel oversize board book links words to pictures and, in each full-color spread, two textures. A spread for ""Around the House,"" for instance, shows a ""blanket"" and Continue reading »Presenting a grave subject in comic-book format, Kooharian (Medieval Tales: The Twelfth Century) endeavors to blend elements of fantasy with an achingly real story of a terminally ill boy. One night Continue reading » Although the parallactic plot structure combined with surrealist illustrations are unusual in picture books, the message of this story is not unusual for the category: Don’t suppress children’s natural inclination to have fun. Don’t pass on your own class prejudices because we really need to stop perpetuating the idea that some people are more worthy than others. This beautifully photographed cookbook emphasizes fresh, seasonal cooking, separating recipes into chapters dedicated to the bounty of spring, summer, fall and winter. Spring's recipes include a Continue reading » Like Belgian surrealist artist, Rene Magritte, Browne uses the same symbol over and over to convey meaning. Children will have much to discuss as they dig deeper into Anthony Browne’s multi-layered narrative, says Pie Corbett...

Rupa, the long-suffering protagonist of this humorous poke at Old World folk tales, has initiated 21,954 sunups and needs a break. Her pre-dawn trips around the ""cookfire"" bring on the sunrise, and Continue reading »Gr 2-What makes Voices in the Park (Transworld Publishers, 1998) so very interesting is its use of insightful humor both in the text and in the illustrations. The book is comprised of one story Continue reading »