Home > Categories > Books > Kids - General > I Yam a Donkey review
Even frustrated grammarians will giggle at the who's-on-first routine that begins with a donkey's excited announcement, "I yam a donkey!"
Unfortunately the donkey's audience happens to be a yam, and one who is particular about sloppy pronunciation and poor grammar. An escalating series of misunderstandings leaves the yam furious and the clueless donkey bewildered by the yam's growing (and amusing) frustration.
The yam finally gets his point across, but regrettably, he's made the situation a little bit too clear... and the story ends with a dark and outrageously funny twist.
Product reviews...
My children and I were lucky enough to be selected to read this book. As soon as we opened the KIWIreviews package, straight away I wanted to read this book to my children. The bright orange cover caught my attention, and the fun characters on the front. My son loves donkeys too so he was keen to read the book with me.
My children (3 year old & 1 year old) and I sat down to read I Yam A Donkey together. I was chuckling as I was reading the story to them, and they both found it so funny too. The book has an awesome story line about the proper use of grammar. The story is mostly in speech bubbles with the donkey and yam talking to each other. The pictures, story and bad grammar is by Cece Bell. We all think she has done an awesome job with the storylines and we all loved the fun pictures throughout the book. It's bright and eye catching. This book is a great read for the whole family. The book is full of funny pictures of the donkey and a variety of vegetables.
When my partner got home from work I got him to read it too, he found it just as funny and we both thoroughly enjoyed reading it to the children. For us as parents, it is nice to read books we enjoy reading just as much as the children do. This book is a new favourite in this house. The whole storyline is funny and is sure to have everybody laughing and it has a funny ending too.
I would happily pay $19.00 for this wonderful book. Very good value for money and perfect to help children learn proper grammar. I will be sure to recommend this books to other parents. Thank you so much KIWIreviews and Scholastic for the chance to review this funny book suitable for all ages - young and old!
I was shown a pile of Scholastic books that were available from KIWIreiws to review. One stood out from the rest and I knew I had to have it. With a title like "I Yam a Donkey" it certainly grabbed my attention. The Primary School teacher in me was also curious about the bad grammar in it. When I showed it to my daughters 7 and 5.5 years they were keen to read it too.
The text in this book consists of speech bubbles. It was a novelty for all of us and we loved it. The first time I read it to my girls as I thought they might get a bit confused by the bad grammar. The next night Miss 7 read the part of the Yam while I read the Donkey's lines. The following night we switched roles. The next morning she confirmed for me her love of the book when, as a reluctant reader, I caught her reading the book by herself as soon as she got up. She read it confidently and with expression. I was so pleased. It can be hard to find a book that catches her interest.
The book is very humourous and we were all chuckling as the Yam tried to explain the basic English grammar of I am, you are, he is, she is. The kids could not believe how stupid the donkey was. For younger children or for those learning English this book could be a useful teaching tool too. The illustrations are very simple and almost childlike. Apart from the donkey all the other characters are vegetables. The author/illustrator Cece Bell makes a great job of giving these usually inanimate objects personality. This just added to the humour of the book.
My daughters are both keen to take I Yam a Donkey to school for their teachers to read although I think that both of them are now confident enough reading the book that they could read it to their class. It is a book I would recommend to all parents a teachers to read with their children for a good laugh and fun grammar lesson.
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