Little Green Donkey
by Anuska Allepuz
Date: 2019
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley
From the creator of That Fruit is Mine! comes a laugh-out-loud cautionary tale, sure to resonate with all picky eaters and their parents! Little Donkey LOVES eating grass - it's just so sweet, and crunchy, and juicy! His pillow is even made from grass so that he can roll over in the morning and eat his own bed. "Why don't you try some other food?" suggests his desperate mum, putting on a juggling display of colourful fruit as a way to entice her little one to eat something new. But Little Donkey sees no need. Until, that is, he catches a glimpse of his reflection... Anuska's debut authorial picture book, That Fruit is Mine!, has been published into over ten languages worldwide. A book about trying new things and the hilarious show down between a child and their parent when it comes to the dinner table. This adorable character will help encourage kids to branch out and try more food (even if, in the end, their obsessive impulses can't quite be quelled!).
(synopsis from Goodreads)
Little Green Donkey is obviously aimed at picky eaters. While the idea is cute, I've seen the concept done better.
Little Donkey loves to eat grass. He wants to eat nothing but, and eventually turns green from eating too much of the stuff. His mother thinks he needs a more varied diet, so she offers some other options until he finds one he likes. Then he eats too much of that... and turns a different colour.
Similar picky-eater themes can be found in books like Fussy Flamingo by Shelly Vaughan James (in which a flamingo refuses to eat the one food she should be eating, opting instead for various foods that turn her all sorts of funny colours) or Mrs. Pig's Bulk Buy by Mary Rayner (in which Mrs. Pig, fed up with her piglets' continual demands for ketchup, feeds them nothing but). Little Green Donkey is amusing, but the premise is done better in Fussy Flamingo and the message is more realistic in Mrs. Pig's Bulk Buy. Depending on the child, however, Little Green Donkey might be a good choice for a picky little eater.
Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for providing a digital ARC.
Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 2/5
Overall: 2.5 out of 5
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