by Moe Zilla

Created on: July 22, 2010

"Voices in the Park" is a remarkable children's picture book by Anthony Browne. He flips through four different perspectives on a day in the park, and gradually the characters all come into focus. There's a mother, her son, a father and his daughter - and each character's voice is presented in a slightly different font. But though the setting always remains the same, it's seen differently by each of the four people!

The little girl's father is apparently depressed because he's unemployed. In the park, he flips through the newspaper looking for a job listing.  "I know it's a waste of time but you've got to have some hope, haven't you?" he says. And he's cheered up by the happy chatter of his daughter on the way home.

But the book includes many surreal touches. For one thing, all the characters are gorillas, and there seems to be some class consciousness. While the wealthier gorilla boy is named Charles, the poor gorilla girl is named simply Smudge. And on the way to the park, there's a gorilla panhandler dressed as Santa Claus, next to a framed copy of the Mona Lisa. But on the way home from the park - as the little girl chatters happily - the Mona Lisa dances happily on the sidewalk, and the gorilla Santa Claus does a ballet.

The park is not so welcoming for the uptight gorilla mother. She notes that their Labrador has a pedigree, and objects to the "scruffy mongrel" dog who tries to play with her. She worries when her son disappears, then looks suspiciously at the unemployed father, and thinks "You get some frightful types in the park these days." She eventually spots her son talking to "a very rough-looking child." And when they leave the park, they walk home together in silence.

It's a wonderful experiment in story-telling, and I love the artwork of Anthony Browne. The stark angles of the old-fashioned house where the boy lives are caught in a bright light, like a lonely Edward Hopper oil painting. Needless to say, the perspective of the woman's son is entirely different than his mother. He thinks "it's so boring" at home on his own, and when he gets to the park thinks the dog is having more fun than he is.

But soon he's enjoying playing with the little girl - Smudge - until "my mother caught us talking together, and I had to go home." When the book switches to the Smudge's perspective, she's enjoying her day in the park too. The book ends on a picture of the flower that the little boy gave to Smudge, which she puts in a glass of water. And as the boy thinks about his next visit to the park, his section of the story ends with a glimmer of hope.

"Maybe Smudge will be there next time?"

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