Reviews for The Silver Donkey

The average rating for The Silver Donkey based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-10-03 00:00:00 Cynthia Saad This "war story" entertained and engaged both me and my little one with its straightforward approach to storytelling. Breakdown: two little girls find a soldier in the woods who has deserted from the war. Y'know, 'cause it's hell and all. This soldier has gone psychosomatically blind due to seeing too many horrors. They make friends. They share stories. And they hatch a plan. Our favorite parts were the 'morality tales' featured as stories-within-stories. The soldier tells a few tales about donkeys. And after these tales, and this book, you'll never look at donkeys the same way again.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-09-26 00:00:00 Salvador Perez More of a revisiting than a first read, I picked up Harnett's book in all it's beautiful hardback splendour. With its greem-wooded cover and embossed silver donkey to its dream-like endpapers lovingly crafted by Laura Carlin, it's a palm-sized gentle story which resonates through Harnett's tender prose. Set at some point during the Great War, two young French sisters, Marcelle (10) and Coco (8), venture into the wood near their farm to discover a blind, hungry soldier who has escaped the Front's atrocities. With only care and curiosity at the forefront of their mind, they choose to keep him a secret from the townspeople and feed him. In return he tells them stories inspired by the little silver donkey that he always carried in his hand. The allegorical stories themselves interject the children's visits and are there for him to share with the girls (and other visitors): what it is about life that is worth living for. It is a story that is sure to embed itself within the mind of the young reader ready to be revisited and reimagined as they grow into the world. Harnett stays cautiously away from overt didacticism and instead leaves interpretation of the tales to the reader. The story has a beautiful, hopeful close.