Zoo

Product Information

First, the good news: if ever a couple seemed made for each other artistically, it's the multitalented Browne and King Kong, the celebrated simian star of the 1933 film. In this illustrated Continue reading »

Flood, Alison (9 June 2009). "Gorilla artist Anthony Browne becomes children's laureate". The Guardian.It's a wonderful critique of zoos and of the way that people treat animals, the way they treat each other, the way they ignore each other and the way that society is as much a zoo (cages and all) as a zoo really is. It also happens to be full of beautiful art juxtaposed with a surreal comic art... brining that dystopia straight to the eyes. Gr 2-What makes Voices in the Park (Transworld Publishers, 1998) so very interesting is its use of insightful humor both in the text and in the illustrations. The book is comprised of one story Continue reading » A chimp takes a body-building course in Browne's satirical look at the world of wimps and bullies. Ages 3-7. Continue reading » It would be good for guided reading from around years 3+ as it is interesting and has a good mix of words.

Browne and writer Annalena McAfee won the 1985 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, Picture Book category, for Mein Papi, nur meiner! (The Visitors Who Came to Stay). He also won the Kurt Maschler Award "Emil" three times, which annually (1982 to 1999) recognised one British "work of imagination for children, in which text and illustration are integrated so that each enhances and balances the other." [15] Browne was a winner for Gorilla (Julia MacRae Books, 1983), Alice's Adventure in Wonderland (MacRae, 1988) and Voices in the Park (Doubleday, 1998), as the illustrator of all three books and the writer of two. [15] Zoo is the story of a family’s trip to the Zoo. It is interesting to read about the family dynamics and I feel most children and adults can relate to the characters in the book. From the boys fighting, the Dad telling terrible jokes to the Mum being embarrassed by them all. As the story progresses you understand the underlying theme, which is actually about a role reversal with the people outside the cages being the animals. This is enforced by the use of pictures, with the children wearing monkey caps and also members of the public having animal features. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (MacRae, 1988) – an edition of the 1865 classic, highly commended for the Greenaway [11] [a] and winner of the Emil [15]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. Kirsty is a first-class dreamer. her colourful fantasies of revelry and rivalry will have all young readers rooting for her. Clever, intriguing, and decidedly droll, Annalena McAfee's juxtaposition of reality and fantasy provides the perfect vehicle for the imaginative art of Anthony Browne.