Good Morning, My Deer!

by Melanie Amon, Sophie Beer (Illustrator)

Next, I brushed my hare and put on my new pear of shoes. Mum painted her nails before we set out for the day. Join Banjo and his mom on what starts as a straightforward day out, only to have it upended by homophones (two words with the same pronunciation but with different meanings), turning the narrative into the delightfully absurd. Kids and adults alike will love this joyful new wordplay extravaganza from debut author Mel Amon with illustrations by international superstar Sophie Beer. The hilarious wordplay combined with delightful illustrations have kids “in on the joke” from the very beginning.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

Published October 3, 2023

Reviews

[Fatima Seraj Alam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sure to delight all ages. The creative use of homophones will make the little ones laugh at the absurdity and the older ones will giggle at the ingenuity.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever read, if not one that will face too many re-reads, this is a day in the life of a little deer, and all the homophones he faces in the course of it. So the umbrella, when needed, has a leek in it – yes, the vegetable, hanging down from its centre, and when someone paints their nails to go out it's just that – the heads of the nails hammered into the walls get a new coat. It's daft, but clearly there is method in the madness, as we learn just what the English language can do. Bright and lively, the illustrations prove to be the proof of much of the jokes, but they add to the interest in the simple tail. Sorry, tale.

[Laura Farrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stunning, bright colourful pictures. Loved how engaging each page was.
Its a great concept, to write a story and deliberately mis-use the words. But the English language is already hard. This would be a FANTASTIC story for grade 2-4's that can already read, if you were reading out loud trying to trip them up. A bit harder to make an impact on pre-schoolers.
I especially like the use of the end papers to go back and explain each of the miss-used words.

2024 CBCA Notable List for Picture Book of the Year.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun! This is like a Disney movie with jokes for kids and adults (and tricks the kids into learning without knowing they're learning). I bought this as a gift for all my friends kids and they love it

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quite clever approach to introducing young children to homophones and homographs as a young deer and his mother share their day. The illustrations are necessary to decipher the word meanings but the style did not appeal.

A 2024 CBCA Notable title in Early Childhood category

[lea ❦ · Rating 5 out of 5]

that was so cute are you kidding me

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
A bright and colorful book of homophones delights the reader.

[Nella · Rating 5 out of 5]

homophones

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little cutesy. Doesn’t really work when reading it miss 4. Prob would work if I got Mr 8 to read it … as he might get the jokes. E.g painting her Nails 💅 🔨

[Olive · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book, with play on words. Mail/male, plain / plane etc

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning. For some it can be fun (I love it), for others it can be a challenge. So, what better way to approach it than with humour? Learning is, and should be, fun. It should call to us all as we reach for it, grasp it, and make discoveries. But what about the very young? How do we encourage them to want to learn when they will often need to be shown or told things more than one. After all we don’t want them to get bored. So, we can use humour in the hope that everyone who is sharing in the learning will love it and want to come back for more. I think Mel Amon and Sophie Beer, in their Good Morning, My Deer have created the perfect example.

This is a very silly story which will teach young children all about homophones. These are words which sound the same but can be spelled very differently ~ see the title for an example ~ we say ‘deer’ but we spell it ‘dear’… As we join Banjo and his mum for their day out, a day that should be very straightforward we are going to discover and learn quite a few of these homophones and we are possibly going to struggle turning the pages. Why? Well, firstly I think it will be because of the laughter, then it will be because of the explanation for the funny words which stand out as they are in blue throughout. Oh, and don’t forget to look at the extra additions on the end pages too ~ these silly words are everywhere!

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice idea