Dear Deer A Book of Homophones

I love finding books that teach as well as entertain children. Finding books fun books that engage children in learning about English is a great way to increase understanding of skills that can be dry and dull. My first experience with a book like this was The King Who Rained and it took me years to find a copy of it when I was teaching as it had gone out of print. People looked at me very oddly when I tried to purchase a copy. Thankfully, I was able to borrow library copies to use with my class. It has since been reprinted and is available to buy.

Like the King Who Rained, Dear Deer: A Book of Homophones
uses the humor of illustrations to demonstrate the ideas of homophones. The title of the book comes from a letter written by Aunt Ant to Dear Deer about her adventures of living at a zoo. The book continues with the aunt describing all the wonders she encounters at the zoo. Each page has a pair of homophones paired up. The homophones are in capital letters and bolded to make them easy to identify. The children can then use the illustrations to help them identify the homophones utilized on that page.

While this is a picture book, I would also recommend it for older elementary students who are studying or reviewing homophones. It is a fun way to see the concept illustrated. One activity I loved when I was teaching was to make our own class book and share it with younger students. It was a great way to share learning across the grade levels.

As for my copy of the book, it is headed to one of my family members who homeschools. While it is going to a K aged student, I suspect the older elementary student will also get some value from the fun review of homophones.

Brainy Bird Saves the Day!: Henny Penny Retold is another book in Steck-Vaughn's Point of View Series.

In the classic tale, we find the tale of Henny Penny who comes to believe the sky is falling after being hit on the head with an acorn. She sets off on an adventure to tell the King about the danger. She convinces her friends with her hysteria and they all are tricked into a fox's cave when he offers to show them a short cut to King. This tale has been told for years as a cautionary tale about panic and chaos being created by people coming to the wrong conclusions based on minimal evidence.

The alternate tale is Henny Penny's version of the story. She insists she never thought the sky was falling. She clearly understood she was hit on the head by an acorn. However, do to the increased number of falling acorns she sensed an impending danger to the population and decides that as a reporter it is her job to tell the King. She meets her friends along the way and they join her on her mission. She is not fooled by the fox's trick and she and her friends send the farmer's dog after the fox.

Henny Penny makes a convincing case for herself and against the concept of bird brains not being empty headed.

Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again

In Humpty Dumpty Climbs Again David Horowitz tells an interesting story of what happens to Humpty after he recovers from his fall.

After struggling to put Humpty together again, the King's horses and men decide to consult with a doctor who tells Humpty he must be more careful. Humpty takes this to heart and rarely leaves the house. The Kings men and horses take to mocking him about his new found caution.

The Dish comes to visit Humpty to convince him he needs to get out of his chair and return to the brave egg he once was, failing he runs away with the Spoon. When he returns to watching TV a spider drops down and frightens Humpty out of his house causing a Little Dog to laugh at the sight.

Despondent, Humpty heads for the hills. For old time’s sake, he tries climbing when he reaches the wall. There he discovers the King's Men with climbing ropes and fears they will mock him once again.

The King's men have their own problem. Seeing their climbing gear, Humpty hitches himself up and begins climbing with safety ropes. Humpty not only gets his courage back, but also is able to save the day.

This is a great alternate Humpty story and it teaches a valuable lesson about overcoming fear and using tools.

Just a Friendly Old Troll

The Three Billy Goats Gruff/Just a Friendly Old Troll (Another Point of View)is another Point of View tale from Dr. Alvin Granowsky.

In the traditional tale, we find the three billy goats named Gruff who live in a green meadow where over eating has started to create a demand for more grass. The youngest goat decides to seek better grass on a hillside. His invites his brothers and they agree to come, but not until they have finished their chores. The only way to access, the hillside was across a rickety, wooden bridge. Underneath the bridge lived a goat-eating troll. As the Little Billy Goat Gruff crossed the bridge his hoofs trip-trap-trip-trap trip-trap sound alerted the troll that a potential meal was on its way. The troll tells the young goat he plans to eat him and the goat tells him he would be better off waiting for Middle Billy Goat, his brother who would make a more satisfying meal. The troll agrees and Little Billy Goat is on his way. When Middle Billy Goat arrives, he offers his big brother as a more appetizing meal and he too goes across to the other side. When the troll sees Big Billy Goat Gruff, he is thrilled that dinner has arrived. However, Big Billy Goat Gruff is more than a match for him and knocks him flying off the bridge. The goats celebrate happily on the other side of the bridge. The troll is never seen again.

In the alternate version, we meet the troll in the hospital. He discusses coming from a long line of hospitable people. He tells the reader he is known everywhere for his bridge hospitality. The goats’ reaction puzzles him. His only explanation is a failure to communicate. He was confused by each goat’s reaction to his invitation to share his dinner with him. He was even going to serve lemonade. His only explanation is that they did not understand when he said he was having them for dinner it was an invitation to eat with him, not to eat them.

The author does make a case for cultural misunderstandings. The troll presents a strong history of hospitality and comfort to travelers. Since the first two goats did pass without being eaten, it does seem questionable that he would have harmed the third. After all, goats would keep for more than one day. He could have killed the whole family. This would have provided the troll with food for several days if that had been his intention. The goat's account does seem a bit thin.