Zoo

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The Visitors Who Came to Stay by Annalena McAfee (Hamilton, 1984) – winner of the 1985 German youth literature prize for picture books in its German-language translation retaining Browne's illustrations It's comment on people may seem too harsh, and on animals it is also too harsh and humanizing, critical and unjust, and though I resist it - I also ask, is it really as extreme as it's first impression? Browne's books are translated into 26 languages and his illustrations have been exhibited in many countries including; The United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, France, Korea, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, and Taiwan. He currently lives in Canterbury, England. The book ends with the main character ‘Me’ saying, ��That night I had a strange dream. Do you think animals have dreams?’ This is a great question to start a discussion with the class and also it could be used in Literacy with the words being omitted from the story and the Children using the illustrations as inspiration for their own text for the story.

The people featured in the book are dressed in animal patterned clothing, having animal-like features or in some cases they are physically a bizarre mixture of human and actual animal whilst the animals themselves are drawn in an incredibly life-like and realistic way and Browne really shows off his mastery in his gorilla illustration. This book is an excellent example of the essential role pictures can play in a story as we can infer so much from them. Pig That Wants To Be Eaten, The (and ninety-nine other thought experiments) by Julian Baggini (Granta, 2005) In 2000 Browne was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, an international award given to an illustrator for their body of work. This prize is the highest honour a children's writer or illustrator can win and Browne was the first British illustrator to receive the award. A boy goes to the Zoo with his Mum, Dad and brother, where they see a variety of animals and enjoy the delights of the zoo. Poor old mum has to endure Dad’s bad jokes and her two cheeky monkeys messing about, but they all have a good day in the end.

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I love this book because it is different. I think the illustrations are terrific. They convey a mixture of emotions: funny, sad, silly, angry, gloomy. The "laughing daddy face" is very realistically "ugly" with big nostrils and round double-chin. The crouching orang-utan was full of unspoken emotions even though we couldn't see its face. The gorilla painting is purely beautiful. Anthony Browne: Children's Laureate 2009–11". Children's Laureate (childrenslaureate.org.uk). Booktrust. Retrieved 28 September 2013. Browne, Anthony". Original artwork from children's book illustrators. Images of Delight. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007 . Retrieved 26 December 2007. In the 19th century, families used to visit asylums for the insane as family outings. We now call this Asylum Tourism.

So who is the Minotaur of this zoo-labyrinth? Is it the father? I believe it’s the father AND the gorilla, who is an absolutely pitiful creature. We don’t even see the gorilla’s face, just the hunched over, completely withdrawn, pathetic figure of a magnificent wild creature with beautiful reddish fur. Another way to explore surrealist ideas is by playing the Shape Game. Browne uses this technique when he wants to generate ideas. Draw an outline, then invite someone to transform the shape into an object. This game is explored in The Shape Game, in which the family from Zoo visit an art gallery. Become art investigatorsIt has very good illustrations which complement the story nicely, adding to the sense of humor within. The front cover isn’t particularly bright but the wavy lines, bold simple title and family picture still make it look intriguing and hint at the slightly unusual story within. Talk about colour and what it suggests. Talk about style. Has the image been drawn loosely? With a hyper-realistic attention to detail? Or in some other way? Talk about size and scale. Is this image a close-up or does it show a long perspective? Talk about framing. What could a heavy frame tell us, and why might an object or person break through it? Talk about point of view. If this image were a photograph, where would the photographer be? What does this add to our experience? Zoo” by Anthony Browne by is really a sad picture book about going to the zoo with your family. A boy is telling the story through his perspective by reading the text but I think if you were to look at the pictures, you can see many different perspectives taken place in the book. It starts of with a each member of the family has their own portrait; similar to “Willy’s Pictures”. By looking at their facial expressions you can feel through personality coming through the pictures. The first one I noticed was the dad with a stern look on his face. Then the boy, who is the narrator, is in a calm manner while his brother is smiling a fake smile and his mother looking really sad. It’s a story about how a family goes to the zoo and when the boy who goes to sleep at night remembers a dream that he was behind bars, trapped, maybe living a life he didn’t want to. He pondered if animals could have dreams like him. The character made a connection to the animals because he feels the same way as the animals. The repetitive “my mum” in Browne’s book indeed stresses the child’s perspective in depicting his mother, as well as a recurrent sense of exclusivity and possession. In all the illustrations but the final, the visual perspective from which we see her is also that of the child, either observing his mother or imagining her in various situations. In the penultimate picture, the reader is put literally in the position of the boy, seeing his hands outstretched to hug his mother. Keeping Nikolajeva’s remark in mind, it might seem irrelevant to criticize the child-centeredness that is pivotal to new momism in children’s books that are so obviously constructed from the child’s point of view. However, the child’s perspective is always constructed by an adult writer and/or illustrator, as are the characters—including the mother—in a children’s story. As it turns out, some young focalizing characters are more broad-minded and observant when describing their mothers than others: Piggybook and The Shape Game, which will be discussed below, will provide two examples. It should be noted that these two books are for slightly older readers than My Mum, which may explain why they give the child more credit for using Theory of Mind (assessing what another person may be thinking) and empathy with the mother’s feelings. Yet, not all child focalizers in books for the very young are oblivious to the fact that their mothers have lives beyond the family. Footnote 6 Moreover, the child narrator in My Mum makes it a hallmark of his dedication that he focuses on several aspects of his mother, trying to capture her in all the positive aspects that he can see. It is then all the more striking that he refers to her mainly in old-fashioned stereotypes. Again, it is revealing to compare My Mum to My Dad, where a child—perhaps even the same child—is also the focalizing character. For example, the mother is never shown to be in company, whereas the dad is depicted among other people in several pictures: other fathers, a female dancer, two famous singers. Although these characters do not interact in the pictures, the father is not seen in isolation, as is the mother, who is constructed as being dedicated to her child only. The child views his father as a more social being than his mother, and the range of activities and settings in which he places his father is more varied. Abate, Michelle Ann. (2013). A Womb With a Political View: Barbara Park’s MA! There’s Nothing to Do Here!, Parental Parenting, and the Battle over Personhood. Children’s Literature in Education, 44(4), 326–343.