Jeremy has it all, or so it seems, while Sam does not have a new bike, a new football or money for a whole bag of sweets. Jeremy keeps showing off and bragging about his good fortune, but Sam is Continue reading » 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 The animals still have an animalness about them even though they’re obviously meant to be humans. We associate gorillas with ‘big, tough, strong’, therefore ‘big, tough, strong’ nature of humans which then stand for teachers, adults, big people, bullies. house and garden With the press-out pieces of a new series of playtime cum vocabulary-building books, children can pop muffins into the oven (in Play Kitchen) or, with a hoe from the potting shed, Continue reading » Anthony Browne takes on the lyrics of Animal Fair: A Spectacular Pop-Up with equal gusto. Readers first spy what appears to be a run-of-the-mill carousel, but a pull of the tab reveals ""The birds Continue reading »

Part of a new line of books aimed at families with blind or sight-impaired members, this smartly conceived board book is tactile in more ways than one. As readers count to 10, the numbers and Continue reading »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 » The word %E2%80%98bugs' can include not [only] insects but also other creepy crawlies... such as scorpions, millipedes, and woodlice. Come and meet us!" invites this paper-over-board guide to the Continue reading » Voices in the Park is a very unique children's book. It tells the story from four separate perspectives about the same day in the park: a woman, her son, a man, and his daughter. The two children play together--creating a friendship--while the two adults keep to themselves. The woman, specifically, is upset by having to share the park bench with the man. The feelings of these characters can be seen in the illustrations. Depending on the perspective, the reader will notice the seasons changing. For example, the trees will appear bare for one character and in full bloom for another.

The composition tends to symmetrical. Clearly the symmetry serves to emphasise the inherent equality between human beings; in this park, outside the individuating arena of their homes, everyone is on the same level, literally. 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.Even the trees in the illustration below reflect the hunched posture of this father and daughter on the way to the park. In Civilization: Ten Thousand Years of Ancient History, Jane McIntosh (The Practical Archaeologist) and Clint Twist (Historical Atlas of the Celts) explore the first 10,000 years of civic life. Continue reading » This is also probably a joke directed at himself, since the author/illustrator has a decorative ‘e’ at the end of Brown.) CHARLES SMYTHE

First, the good news: if ever a couple seemed made for each other artistically, it's the multitalented Browne and King Kong, the celebrated simian star of the 1933 film. In this illustrated Continue reading » After the kids have made their predictions on what the book Voices in the Park is about, read the first voice. This is the voice of the stern women. After you read her story, stop reading and ask the kids this question: Fans may be surprised and disappointed by the route this talented author/illustrator has taken. Featuring the same character as last season's The Little Bear Book , Browne continues the adventures of Continue reading »The children are most likely to say we are missing the little boy’s voice. They may also say the dog. You can ask the kids what you think those voices would say. Read The Second Voice What is the reason for a parallactic plot structure? In literary parallax, the message is implicitly this: The truth does not exist. A person’s version of the truth depends on their perspective. This is a defining characteristic of the literary Impressionists. That said, I think Anthony Browne has used parallax to a different end in this instance. I believe he conveys an unambiguous message: Repression of children is bad; playing is good; friendship across socioeconomic boundaries is good. He uses parallax to avoid hitting readers over the head with this ‘message’. A strong message like that could easily seem didactic. When readers put pieces of a puzzle together for themselves, they are more likely to agree with the storyteller’s message, regarding it as self-evident. 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 »