Did you learn more about each character as you read the book? How did your opinion of each character change?

The illustrations are vivid and differentiate between the chapters, for each character. It could be useful to look at this with children and to begin to think about how illustrations can help the reader to understand more about the characters' thoughts, feelings and to try and dig a bit deeper to uncover what the author/ illustrator is trying to tell us through the images. This links to the idea of 'Visual Literacy' and encouraging children to look at all forms of print and communication. This book belongs into the Contemporary Realistic Fiction genre. This genre is defined by a vivid, realistic setting; multidimensional, credible characters; and believable problems that are understood by the intended age group. Voices in the Park, satisfies these criteria. This is a plausible story that could happen in today’s world. An upper-class mother and son could walk their dog to the park and meet other people who may not be of the same socioeconomic status as they are. There are other parts of the story that qualify this text in this type of genre. This is a realistic occurrence that can happen daily, with easily understood problems for the reader. The characters in the story make it easy for children to relate to through use of language and how they interact with each other.

Children will have much to discuss as they dig deeper into Anthony Browne’s multi-layered narrative, says Pie Corbett... The story starts with an upper-class mother and son who walk their dog to the park and meet other people who are depicted as coming from a lower class status. What I found interesting within the story is that this can be a realistic occurrence that can happen daily. I consider the characters can also relate to the reader quite accessibly. In my opinion this is done through a good use of language and wonderful illustrations that pose extraordinary features. Although many may find these as unusual, I believe the use of these types of pictures as appealing. 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 Could you create your own story in which different people have different points of view about the same event?

It would be worth finding the original paintings that are referenced in the text – such as ‘The Scream’ by Edvard Munch. Try creating surreal poems in which everyday objects become something unusual. Imitate the following writing pattern and model a class versionUse the story as a starting point for learning about the first / third person and how they are written. Re the story, I think the different perspectives of the characters could lead to some interesting discussions and introspective mulling. But I thought some of the choices were a bit odd if the audience here is young children, such as the despondent man looking at the job ads despite feeling hopeless. write letters to an agony aunt or hold an ‘advice surgery’ for each character to discuss their problems; Hats also denote socioeconomic status. In this case, the hats are ‘bowler’, and therefore stand for a particular social class. The boy is being trained by his mother to present a certain, repressed side of himself to the world. Instead of running around like his labrador, he sits sedately by his mother’s side. Eventually the repressive bowler hats disappear from his view as the girl, Smudge, brings out his ura. Since Voices In The Park was published, the fedora has garnered a reputation for being 1. a more fashionable update on the bowler and 2. a worrisome signal that the wearer may be a m*n’s r*ghts activist. Both are symbols of patriarchy, or aspirationally so. Men’s hat advertisement 1909 SETTING OF VOICES IN THE PARK