Dear Deer

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MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY -- School Library Journal, 5/22/2008

Dear Deer. video or DVD. 9 min.Spoken Arts. 2007. video, ISBN 0-8045-9722-7: $49.95; DVD, ISBN 0-8045-8067-7: $50; cassette with hardcover book, ISBN 0-8045-6958-4: $27.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 0-8045-4181-7: $29.95.

PreS-Gr 2–Gene Barretta's fun and quirky introduction to homophones (Holt, 2007) is brought to life in this fun-filled romp through the zoo. He introduces the book with great humor and special effects, explaining that homophones are words that sound alike, but are spelled differently and have different meanings, like ate and eight. He then demonstrates how confusing homophones can be, as he ordered a flower for his wife, but got flour instead. In the book, Aunt Ant, who lives in the zoo, is writing to her Dear Deer, telling him of the strange and often humorous escapades she sees at the zoo. These, of course, involve some amusing homophones. From a moose who loves mousse and ate eight bowls to a doe who kneads dough because she needs the dough to a bee who flew from a flea with the flu, the descriptions are silly and fun. While some homophones may be beyond the vocabulary of the youngest viewers, the majority are fun and easy to understand. Even if the meanings of some of the words are not completely understood, the concept of a homophone is made perfectly clear. Barretta’s colorful and amusing illustrations of outrageous animals add to the merriment and help explain the meanings of the homophone-filled descriptions. This pun-filled visit to the zoo is a fabulous introduction to homophones.