Voices in the Park (1998)

The Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne, is a heart happy type of book. At first I thought the book was confusing and I did not have a good impression of the first voice so I did not think I was going to like the book. After reading the whole thing and was able to see the other point of views from the characters, I grew to really enjoy this book. It really opened me up to how different point of views can change how a series of events can be perceived. I also really enjoyed the pictures in the book to be able to visualize the characters and get a better understanding of the event. This book opened up my opinion to different family backgrounds and how it effects something as simple as a day in the park. ( )

Voices in the park was a story told from four different people’s perspectives. First was Charlie’s mom, she didn’t have a good time at the park, she didn’t like the “Mongrel” that came to play with Victoria. Next up was smudge’s dad who was having a rough day so he decided to go to the park and his daughter and dog cheered him up. Then Charlie wasn’t having fun at the park till he met smudge. Smudge was excited to go to the park and had fun the whole time. This story is a great model for kids to write stories in different perspectives it also shows kids that people have different experiences in life. ( )

I thought this was an interesting book. I really like how the author uses illustrations and font to help the reader visualize each individual voice. The book tells the story of one event, going to the park, from four different perspectives. The first voice is very polished and values appearance, with formal font and pristine illustrations. The second voice is darker and heavy with large bold font, and initially dark illustrations depicting sad background characters and barren imagery, then becoming lighter and depicting dancing background characters as the voice goes home with his happily chattering daughter. The third voice is fairly small and initially has very structured but dull illustrations, after meeting a girl in the park, his illustrations become brighter as the boy begins to have fun and not worry about appearance, then returned to muted formal colors as he leaves the park with his mother. The fourth voice is very innocent and childish, with sloppy bold font, and bright colors with illustrations depicting a very active imagination. By showing the same event from four perspectives using different illustration and font styles, the author helps his reader understand how everyone experiences things differently, and helps children understand that we don’t all see things in the same way. ( )

Voices in the park is told by four different voices visiting the same park. The illustrations perfectly goes alone with capturing the story. It shows how four different people doing the same task such as going for a walk to the park can have very different experiences. Each character was seen in a different way depending on who perspective you were reading at the time because they all saw or talk one another. This is very complex as it explores people’s feelings. These feelings are very real and explain issues such as unemployment, and not giving up hope, friendship, and feeling alone in a simple form. ( )

The story of an afternoon in the park from four different perspectives. The images are laid with meaning. Stories within the images.