Little Green Donkey
Written and illustrated by Anuska Allepuz
Little Green Donkey is a picture book about a little donkey that likes to eat grass. It ate so much grass it…you guessed it, became green.
First off, Anuska Allepuz is both the author and illustrator of Little Green Donkey. She’s got quite a few books published, starting in 2007! The early works were done mostly as illustrations for children’s books written in Spanish. Her first Walker Books publication was That Fruit is Mine! In 2018. Cool title, honestly.
She likes to draw in black and white, too, which I also think is pretty cool. If you go to her website, B/W PORTFOLIO — ANUSKA ALLEPUZ *illustration*, you can see some of her black and white portfolio. It’s interesting to see children’s books in black and white. I’m not used to it, since most are geared towards color. Is color necessary for a children’s book? It doesn’t appear to be so for Allepuz.
Regardless of color, there seems to be a necessity of symbiosis between author and illustrator to ensure totality of true meaning. What would Dr. Suess be without its iconic, instantly recognizable pointy-nosed characters? Or how much of a bigger deal Clifford the Big Red Dog was for being red? It kind of reminds me a little of the symbiosis between artist and inker in comic books. And to anyone old enough, that’s a nod and wink to a scene in the Kevin Smith movie Chasing Amy, with a pre-Good Will Hunting Ben Affleck.
Getting back to Little Green Donkey, it’s a typical picture book for three-to seven-year-olds and is 32 pages long. I would say the meat of the book is in its illustrations, true to its author’s beloved abilities and roots. Yes, the book is still well-written. It makes use of rhymes with short, fun songs that you and your child can sing over and over again. It has educational value in exposing kids to various colors, foods, and the texture and sounds of such. It is also a relatable subject for kids who may be picky eaters themselves and are reluctant to try new foods.
The illustrations are in full effect, mostly drawn with a watercolor effect with a pastel palette. The drawings of the chonky donkey are rather cute, especially the centerfold when he realizes he’s green.
Little Green Donkey should be a really fun read to kids with great reread potential, (bedtime story!). The fun songs and the onomatopoeia in some of the pages are great! Check out the double-paged spread below for an example of the storytelling aspects and the reading from Ready by David on YouTube.
As you can see, the charming story and warm, fun illustrations should win over many a child or two.
With that, Mrs. Udderbutter stamps her Hoof of Approval!
Have fun reading!