(A) Anthony Browne’s Voices in the Park.

This story presents the four different perspectives of the same incident through a wealthy mother, her lonesome son, an out-of-work father, and his bubbly daughter.

(B) I find this book extremely useful to teach pupils to think critically. Through the four different characters, readers are given the opportunity to hear each character’s voice and perspective, thus they are made aware of each character’s attitude towards another and piece together the disconnected understandings of the visit to the park. The illustrations that accompany the text complement it and effectively reflect the personalities of each character. Issues such as gender, class and prejudice are explored in a clever and interesting manner and as teachers, we can extend it through discussion with our pupils. We can discuss these issues within the context of the story and later, expand it to the Singapore context.

Furthermore, the story is presented with multiple perspectives and this allows readers to decide for themselves whose voice is the most credible.

(C) Pupils might not be able to pick out all the critical nuances immediately as they might not be used to reading from a critical perspective. Thus, it is necessary for teachers to scaffold them with questions to lead them in. If possible, teachers could also start with simpler texts like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty and discuss gender stereotypes (women tend to be portrayed as the weaker sex in contrast to the prince who saves them) before moving on to this Voices in the Park.