Your family will love this heartwarming Christmas story told from an unlikely perspective: a donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem. Though the donkey wasn’t the biggest, fastest, or strongest of all the animals, he had an important job all the same. Adults and children alike will love the message about how God has big plans for little ones.
Amazon.com
This children's story opens with -- say it with me now -- one small donkey! Our adorable donkey protagonist is grazing on a hill, enjoying some fine weather, when he spots two big, gorgeous horses with flowing manes coming his way. Donkey admires their strength and beauty and wishes he could claim the same qualities for himself. Alas, he finds himself of slight size and noticeable clumsiness. He also struggles with speed. But little does he know, HE has been chosen for a very important task and will soon be a key player in every future retelling of the Nativity story ever. This particular donkey will be responsible for carrying a very pregnant Virgin Mary to Bethlehem so she may birth the Baby Jesus. Not too shabby for this wee donkey!
Admittedly, the biggest pull for me with this board book was the undeniably adorable (and beautifully colored!) illustrations. Illustrator Marta Miguens does a fantastic job bringing real personality to the story's starring mule! But aside from the illustrations, I think this little book offers a great way for parents to share the Nativity story with their youngest readers without overwhelming them with too many details at once. While the basics of the familiar tale are all touched upon, very small readers will enjoy the focus on all the livestock characters that typically take a backseat in more grown up tellings of this Christmas legend. Additionally, this story provides an important message to young readers that everyone has innate gifts that can help better the lives of others, even if those gifts are not always immediately recognizable. Life has a way of calling on those gifts when most needed, even if it seems to take months or years. But when called upon, the person often sees that no one could have helped quite like they were able to!
I've come across some reviews that mentioned the wording at times being clunky, throwing off the flow of the rhymes. I didn't notice it myself at first but after seeing such reviews I did another read-through and sure enough, a few pages near the story's end do have a few awkwardly phrases lines. Now seeing that, I would recommend adult readers to do a silent read through or two before sharing with your child, just to get a feel for where to put the vocal pauses.
FTC DISCLAIMER: BookLookBloggers.com and Thomas Nelson Publishers kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
2
