Voices in the Park

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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 version

which pictorial ideas are playful and which suggest something meaningful that adds to your understanding; Each character in the story is written in a different font. Investigate different types of fonts that are available on your computer. Can you sort them into different groups? Which ones would be most appropriate for different types of character in a new story?Walking in the park I saw – an autumn tree burst into flames, a cloud become a swan; a bench grow crocodile’s feet; the children’s slide stretch into a rainbow; grass grow tongues and whisper secrets, a statue wave its stony hands, the boating pond turn into glass and shatter into a thousand slices of ice…. Activity six: Making it your own

Kingston University have made an interactive version of Voices in the Park with animations, sound effects and a map to provide support and guidance for both teacher and pupils. The fourth character, Smudge's font is a more fun type of font that would resemble the voice of a playful child. Just like her father's font, hers is also portrayed in bold. Rather than it giving her a deeper voice, it looks more hearty and playful. Browne had carefully chosen these fonts to portray an attitude to give the reader a glimpse into the four voices of the characters in the story. Looked at as an artistic element, the textual font is composed of lines that suggest the strength of each character’s personality, the mood of each character, and the mood they suggest to other characters.

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Personally, I felt that the story indicates how we should not be judged based on our class or gender. It shows that people should never give up on life and start afresh when life becomes difficult. We just need someone to talk to or be there to support people through hard times.

literacy centre task cards - ten literacy centre activities, ready for printing and laminating (I used these over a two-week cycle)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‘. Importantly, the story is atemporal by design. Is this sky one of the evening, morning? We don’t know. Once the characters assemble at the park, the seasons keep changing according to whose story it is. This makes use of the symbolism of seasons, of course, but also lends a universality to this story of humanity and hierarchy. Doonan, J. (1993). Looking at pictures in picture books. 1st ed. South Woodchester (GB): Thimble Press.