Donkey Daniel in Bethlehem: Luke 2:1-18 for Children

by Janice Kramer

Book by Janice Kramer

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1970

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first came across the Arch Books at a thrift store. They looked good so I grabbed them. When I told a friend, she explained how much she loved them and that her kids went through them all the time. So I kept my eye out and I’ve grown my collection of titles. I love them too!

The vintage are best. They’re a little wordier but so much more impactful. So I would recommend seeking those.

And something I found out only this year while perusing eBay is that there are vinyl records that go along with the books! Your kids can listen while looking at the pictures. How fun is that!

Ages: 4 - 10

Here’s my carefully curated Bible stories list: watch my reel!

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

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[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom was cleaning out the house and came across this and a few others. I'm sure it was read to me many times and that I read it many times after I was old enough to read. It's a cute enough story as told from the donkey's point of view.

I'm also impressed by the alternating of full color and two tone.

[Alisha Ptacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Reaction- This book is really cute and I really like that is has a poetic rhythm to it. It would be a really good transitional book for students to read around Christmas, because it briefly discusses the birth of Christ. The book uses simple language and complete sentences, which makes it a really good book for transitional readers.

Read aloud- This book would not be the best book to read aloud to students, however students might enjoy hearing it. This book will better serve the students if they read it themselves though.

Independent reading. This is a really good transitional book, because it uses easy language that children should not struggle with. The book also uses complete sentences. The book however does not have any mock chapters, but they would not be needed for this book.

Literary elements- This book would not be good for teaching literary elements. Other then Donkey Daniel it lacks strong characters. Then unless you know the significant of Bethlehem then it is unlikely the setting is going to be very important to you. The setting of the book is the only thing that is somewhat significant. This book lacks a strong plot, theme, conflict, and tone, which would also make it a poor book for teaching any of these elements.

[Aletheia Ubben · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is a classic in our family. It is based on the fictional concept of Mary riding a donkey to Bethlehem, but the purpose is to teach children the wonder of Christ's birth. The short story is faithful to details revealed in Luke. (Aletheia's review: I helped to turn a page!)

[Darrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming book.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's kind of tacky the way it's written, but it has a nice rhythm. The idea behind it: telling the tale of Jesus' birth from the point of view of a donkey kept my interest up more than I expected.