Voices in the Park(Browne, 1998) was one of nine picture books I used in a
study that explored the nature of Grade 1 children’s literary
understanding by examining their verbal responses during storybook read-aloud
sessions, and their subsequent written, visual arts, and dramatic responses. This
article discusses the Grade 1 students’ responses to and understandings of
the metafictive devices in Anthony Browne’s picture book. Although
researchers and theorists have written about metafiction, a paucity of research has
explored elementary students’ literary understandings of and responses to
books with metafictive devices. As well as defining metafiction and identifying
various metafictive devices described in the literature, this article contextualizes
Browne’s work and the children’s responses in a discussion of
metafictive textual practices in postmodern and Radical Change literature.
Anstey, M.
(2002)
‘“It’s not all Black and White”:
Postmodern Picture Books and New Literacies’
, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy45(6):
444–457
.
2.
Barone, D.
(1990)
‘The Written Responses of Young Children: Beyond Comprehension to
Story Understanding’
, The New Advocate3(1):
49–56
.
3.
Barrentine, S.J.
(1996)
‘Engaging with Reading through Interactive Read-alouds’
, The Reading Teacher50(1):
36–43
.
4.
Barthes, R.
(1970, trans. 1974) S/Z: An Essay.
New York: Hill and Wang
.
5.
Bateman, R.
(1998) Safari.
Toronto: Penguin Studio
.
6.
Browne, A.
(1977) A Walk in the Park.
London: Julia MacRae
.
7.
Browne, A.
(1984) Willy the Wimp.
London: Julia MacRae
.
8.
Browne, A.
(1997) Willy the Dreamer.
Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press
.
9.
Browne, A.
(1998) Voices in the Park.
London: Picture Corgi Books
.
10.
Coles, M.
and
Hall, C.
(2001)
‘Breaking the Line: New Literacies, Postmodernism and the
Teaching of Printed Texts’
, Reading: Literacy and Language35(3):
111–114
.
11.
Commeyras, M.
and
Sumner, G.
(1996)
‘Literature Discussions based on Student-posed Questions’
, The Reading Teacher50(3):
262–265
.
12.
Culler, J.
(1980) ‘Literary Competence’,
in
J. Tompkins
(ed.) Reader-response Criticism: From Formalism to
Post-structuralism, pp. 101–117.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
.
13.
Cullinan, B.
and
Person, D.
(eds) (2001) The Continuum Encyclopedia of
Children’s Literature.
New York: Continuum International
.
14.
Demi
(1990) The Empty Pot.
New York: Henry Holt and Company
.
15.
Dentith, S.
(2000) Parody.
London: Routledge
.
16.
Doonan, J.
(1999)
‘Drawing Out Ideas: A Second Decade of the Work of Anthony Browne’
, The Lion and the Unicorn23(1):
30–56
.
17.
Dresang, E.
(1999) Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital
Age.
New York: H.W. Wilson Company
.
18.
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(1980) ‘Interpreting the
Variorum’, in
J. Tompkins
(ed.) Reader-response Criticism: From Formalism to
Post-structuralism, pp. 164–184.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
.
19.
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(1994) ‘Is there a Text in the
Class?’, in
D. Richter
(ed.) Falling into Theory: Conflicting Views on Reading
Literature, pp. 226–237.
New York: St Martin’s Press
.
20.
Galda, L.
and
Beach, R.
(2001)
‘Response to Literature as a Cultural Activity’
, Reading Research Quarterly36(1):
64–73
.
21.
Gilman, P.
(1992) Something from Nothing.
Richmond Hill, ON: Scholastic Canada
.
22.
Goldstone, B.
(1998)
‘Ordering the Chaos: Teaching Metafictive Characteristics of
Children’s Books’
, Journal of Children’s Literature24(2):
48–55
.
23.
Goldstone, B.
(2001/2002)
‘Whaz up with our books? Changing Picture Book Codes and Teaching Implications’
, The Reading Teacher55(4):
362–370
.
24.
Hardy, B.
(1975) Tellers and Listeners: The Narrative
Imagination.
Dover, NH: Longwood
.
25.
Hickman, J.
(1981)
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Elementary Setting’
, Research in the Teaching of English15(4):
343–354
.
26.
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(1978) The Act of Reading.
Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press
.
27.
Kiefer, B.
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,
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and
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Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
.
28.
Labbo, L.
(1996)
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Extension Time’
, Journal of Literacy Research28(3):
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.
29.
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(1990)
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, Signal62:
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30.
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(2001) Reading Contemporary Picture Books: Picturing
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New York: Routledge Falmer
.
31.
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(1992) The Art of Fiction.
London: Penguin
.
32.
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(1995) Shortcut.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin
.
33.
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(1997)
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.
34.
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.
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(2000)
‘“Wait a second...”: Negotiating Complex
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, Children’s Literature in Education31(2):
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.
36.
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.
37.
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(1990)
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, Children’s Literature in Education21(3):
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38.
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(2003)
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39.
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and
Wiseman, D.
(1992)
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42.
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Gambrell, L.
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, and
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(2002)
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, Journal of Children’s Literature28(2):
72–84
.
46.
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(2003)
‘“Godzilla lives in New York”: Grade 1
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, Journal of Children’s Literature29(2):
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47.
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(2004a)
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48.
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(2004b)
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, Children’s Literature in Education: An International Quarterly35(1):
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, and
Fountas, I.
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51.
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, The English Quarterly14(1):
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, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy26(1):
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.
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, Reading Research Quarterly35(2):
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.
55.
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