The Dinky Donkey product reviews

We have been long time fans of Craig Smith and the Wonky Donkey. It has graced many a birthday present from our girl. So we were very excited when there was another book out which looked just as quirky and just as hilarious as the first.

The Wonky Donkey felt like it was a stand-alone book only, with just those pages as a story. But open this book and that first page was so exciting. Wonky Donkey had a child!!! Those words made both Miss 4 and Miss 7 so excited to carry on! We were all eager to turn the page to see how the story of the Wonky Donkey and his child played out.

Katz Cowley has outdone herself yet again with the illustrations. We already have the Wonky Donkey, The Fidgety Itch and All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth and they grace our bedtimes frequently.. Very fine details are shown in every single drawing on every single page. The words and the illustrations have been matched up perfectly. The hilarious story line had us in tears of laughter as we read through the book. Miss 7 took over the reading towards the end as the repetition of the Dinky Donkey helped with some of the ridiculous sentences (in a good way!)

The repetition and the rhyming was right up Miss 4's alley. She's really into all rhyming words at the moment, and even makes up her own words to rhyme with proper words. Blinky dinky, inky pinky, winky tinky...all those words she absolutely loved! Being able to teach Miss 7 what alliteration was in this book was yet another learning tool in a fun story. Plinky plonky, pinky punky, dinky donkey were just some of the examples she picked out.

Would we buy this book as a present as we have done with the Wonky Donkey? Yes. Have we already bought this book for a Christmas present? Absolutely yes. We always love giving books for birthdays and Christmas, and New Zealand books are even better! And $20 is an excellent price to pay for a child's book.

Miss Three was already familiar with the Wonky Donkey stories, so was very happy indeed to get a new book all about his daughter. The story is hilarious of course, and the technique of repeated funny words to describe Dinky Donkey is the same as that used in the earlier books so Miss Three knew what to expect. Her little brother, Mr One, was just as fascinated and quickly picked up the rhythm of the lines. He loved Katz Cowley's colourful pictures too, especially DInky's big eyes; he could not stop pointing at her. Then, as it was time to turn each page, he became very excited because there would be yet another DInky to find.

Miss Three is a little more sophisticated than her brother. She loved repeating the words, enjoying the rhythm and the way one or two more were added with each new page. She attempted to repeat them all; this caused a lot of laughter as she tried to remember everything. She was quite successful too, and was very proud of herself when she got it right - it gave her the impression that she was actually "reading" the book just like a big kid.

As a budding actress, Miss Three has discovered role play. One of her favourite activities is to pretend to be the teacher and "read" a book to the rest of the family. This involves everyone sitting on the mat and becoming her class. She chooses the book to read, and since the Dinky Donkey has arrived it is her book of choice. She sometimes moves away from the plot, using the pictures as a springboard and then making up her own stories about Wonky Donkey's baby. Babies are a source of fascination to her anyway; her daycare teacher has just had a baby girl, and Miss Three has her own baby too (Mr One) although he is now fast growing out of the baby stage and developing into a proper toddler!

The slightly naughty element in these books has huge appeal for preschoolers. The fact that the little donkey is just as stinky as her father is very funny; there is a priceless image of a bird fainting when she passes wind. And just in case it was not clear what was happening, there is a colourful aura around her tail area - presumably the gas she is emitting! Another funny image is the sight of her crossing her back legs when she wants to go pee-pee.

The hard binding is a plus; it means the book will be able to withstand rough treatment; although the two children do look after their things, accidents do happen. They are going to be enjoying it for some time to come; it will not be long before Miss Three can actually read the text for herself. That is something to look forward to!