Voices in the Park
By Anthony Browne
Voices in the Park, is another narrative by Anthony Browne (1999) which tells the story of ‘a walk in a park’ from four different perspectives. This text is divided into four sections which allows the same story to be told from each character’s view point, which gives the story depth and gives the reader a real insight into the characters personalities.
Throughout Voices in the Park Browne uses different perspectives to give his narratives depth and establish the main characters. This is demonstrated in the story as the text describes the same event from the four characters perspectives, which gives the reader a real insight into the story and the characters. For example the first voice tells the story from Charles’s mother’s perspective in which she states, ‘It was time to take Victoria, our pedigree Labrador, and Charles, our son for a walk’ (Browne 1999, p. 1). Whereas the second voice tells the story from Smudge’s dad’s perspective in which he states, ‘I need to get out of the house, so me and Smudge took the dog to the park’ (Browne 1999, p. 8). Browne uses these two simple introductions to establish the characters personalities by expressing their priorities. The mothers perspective highlights the importance of her pedigree Labrador, Victoria who she mentions before her son, whereas the father prioritizes his daughter by acknowledging her first and simply referring to ‘the dog’ (Gamble &Yates 2008).
The illustrations in Voices in the Park play a crucial role in the book as they bring humour and wit to Browne’s stories as he provides small visual anecdotes which don’t necessarily relate to the story. For example in Voices in the Park the second character is telling his view of their visit to the park, which is was quite dark and depressing. Although Browne’s first illustration provides a humourous visual anecdote through the drawing of a gorilla Santa sitting on the curb in the background, holding a sign that says ‘Wife and Millions of Kids to Support’ (Browne 1999, p. 8). This picture is not referred to in the text nor is it relevant to the story and yet it has the ability to engage the reader and add depth to the story through subtle humour. This feature of Browne’s books was supported when he stated, ‘Rather than the pictures being a visual reference for the events described in the text, there should be something in the illustrations that the text doesn’t reveal, there should be something in the text that isn’t apparent in the illustration, and sometimes there should be things that are omitted in both’ (Booktrust 2012).
References:
Throughout Voices in the Park Browne uses different perspectives to give his narratives depth and establish the main characters. This is demonstrated in the story as the text describes the same event from the four characters perspectives, which gives the reader a real insight into the story and the characters. For example the first voice tells the story from Charles’s mother’s perspective in which she states, ‘It was time to take Victoria, our pedigree Labrador, and Charles, our son for a walk’ (Browne 1999, p. 1). Whereas the second voice tells the story from Smudge’s dad’s perspective in which he states, ‘I need to get out of the house, so me and Smudge took the dog to the park’ (Browne 1999, p. 8). Browne uses these two simple introductions to establish the characters personalities by expressing their priorities. The mothers perspective highlights the importance of her pedigree Labrador, Victoria who she mentions before her son, whereas the father prioritizes his daughter by acknowledging her first and simply referring to ‘the dog’ (Gamble &Yates 2008). 
The illustrations in Voices in the Park play a crucial role in the book as they bring humour and wit to Browne’s stories as he provides small visual anecdotes which don’t necessarily relate to the story. For example in Voices in the Park the second character is telling his view of their visit to the park, which is was quite dark and depressing. Although Browne’s first illustration provides a humourous visual anecdote through the drawing of a gorilla Santa sitting on the curb in the background, holding a sign that says ‘Wife and Millions of Kids to Support’ (Browne 1999, p. 8). This picture is not referred to in the text nor is it relevant to the story and yet it has the ability to engage the reader and add depth to the story through subtle humour. This feature of Browne’s books was supported when he stated, ‘Rather than the pictures being a visual reference for the events described in the text, there should be something in the illustrations that the text doesn’t reveal, there should be something in the text that isn’t apparent in the illustration, and sometimes there should be things that are omitted in both’ (Booktrust 2012).
By closely analyzing Browne’s body of work I have fallen in love with his stories and illustrations. All of his stories captivate and engage the reader through his unique stories and beautiful and humorous illustrations.
References:
Booktrust 2012, Waterstones Children’s Laureate: Anthony Browne, viewed 2 August 2012, <http://www.childrenslaureate.org.uk/previous-laureates/anthony-browne>.
Gamble, N. & Yates, S. 2008, ‘Narrative: Narration and Structure’ in Exploring Children’s Literature, SAGE, pp. 45-77.
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