This is a sweet story of a donkey on his way to meet the king. Although he encounters many that try to deter him from the journey he continues until he reaches the messiah. It's a different take on the traditional Christmas story but very sweet!

A beautiful story of a donkey, one animal that is often took as fool and worthless, went out to seek the King. He met so many other animals that discouraged him, but he kept moving forward, until he met the King. Beautifully illustrated as well, this is a good reminder of faith during hardship. Being a Christiaan is not easy, we have to endure a difficult journey and met so many discouraging people, but we have to move forward like the donkey, to finally met our King.

A cute retelling of the Christmas story featuring a donkey who wants to meet and worship the Messiah. The book is full of beautiful watercolor illustrations and teaches us that Jesus welcomes all into His presence.

I loved reading this to my own children. It’s such a great story to read. I love how determined the donkey is and how you learn to never give up while reading a Christmas story about baby Jesus

The Little Donkey by Gerda Marie Scheidl is one of my new favorite books to read during the Christmas season! The Little Donkey tells the story of a Donkey who here’s about the Birth of Jesus and decides to travel to Bethlehem to see if it’s true. As he travels to Bethlehem, different animals along the way try to discourage him telling him that the Birth of Jesus is not true. The Donkey himself almost gets discouraged until he gets help to get to Bethlehem and sees the Truth for himself. I loved the Message in the book. I highly recommend this book and believe you should have this in your library. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My review is also on Goodreads.

What a beautiful story! We enjoyed this perspective of the traditional Christmas story. The illustrations were beautiful!

I had a hard time putting this book down. The illustrations were amazing and really helped move this story along. We see this donkey face lots of adversity along the way but they refuse to let it bring them down. As this tale comes to a close life for this donkey will never be the same.

Really pleasant telling of this religious story, of a shy and timid donkey determined to go to Bethlehem to honour the birth of a new king, even in the light of all the belittling comments and opinions of all the animals he meets upon the way. Not for secular households, but for those who hold the religion behind Christmas to their hearts this is going to be a book to buy in multiples as gifts. Beautiful artwork (as expected from the illustrator concerned) and a really clear and crisp telling of the story shows why this classic work comes round again and again. Four and a half stars.

This is a very well illustrated book that tells the story of a donkey that wants to meet Jesus. The story is cute in a way, but it doesn’t really have a moral or point at all. One interesting thing is that there’s no illustrations of Jesus and the author opts to call him “the new king” instead of using any of the typical names of Christ. These are not bad things, they’re just things that stuck out to me. I have a 4 year old nephew and 5 year old niece and this would probably be a little too basic for them. It’s not a bad story at all, but could have been done better.

The Little Donkey would make a great Christmas present for children.
The story and illustrations are really good and go well with the story. Parents could reinforce the story by talking about how the other animals treated the donkey on his way. There are so many lessons for kids and adults in the telling of this story.

I love the persistence of the little donkey; but this book (in my opinion) does not tell the Christmas story. It tells the story of the donkey arriving to the Christmas story.

Bernadette Watts did a lovely job illustrating The Little Donkey.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author (Gerda Marie Scheidl, 1913-2005) and the illustrator (Bernadette Watts) and publisher NorthSouth Books Inc for the opportunity to read the advance read copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a perfect Christmas book to add to your Christmas picture-book collection. A little donkey desires to go to Bethlehem to worship a new baby King that has just been born. The donkey's master tells him the story is false and forbids him to make the journey.

The wee donkey believes in his heart the story is true and when nightfall arrives he exits quietly to follow his heart's desire...to meet and worship Baby Jesus.

Along the way he encounters a giraffe, a lion, and a hyena. They ridicule, bully and make him feel totally worthless. Why will a new King welcome someone as lowly and unimportant as you they tell him? Poor little donkey feels very hurt and insignificant from the cruel and heartless words that are hurled at him from these creatures. With his head drooping down he stumbles along persevering on his trip until finally he reaches his destination guided by a host of heavenly angels. Will the new baby King eagerly accept and invite him into His presence? What do you think?

The illustrations are simple, soft and engaging. The story is a beautiful take on the familiar Christmas story told through the eyes of this adorable little donkey. The inspiring positive message assures readers that "ALL CREATURES" are precious to King Jesus. I love this timeless message and I highly recommend the book. It is a perfect gift to give at Christmas time or anytime. Both young and old will benefit from its truth.

The Little Donkey
by Gerda Marie Scheidl
Date 18 Oct 2022
NorthSouth Books Inc., NorthSouth Books
Children's Fiction | Christian




I am reviewing a copy of The Little Donkey through Northsouth Books and Netgalley:



In this gentle and sweet retelling of the Christmas story, a little donkey sets out on a long journey to Bethlehem.



Along the way he is teased by a Camel and laughed out by other animals. As he begins to stumble and feel worthless, he begins to stumble and loose heart until a great light guides him to his destination. There he is rewarded for his courage and faith, and learns that the new king loves all creatures.


Reading this sweet little book to the Child or Children in your life would make a great addition to your Christmas Tradition.



I give The Little Donkey five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARK. I am reviewing to with full honesty.

The story of The Little Donkey is a wonderfully heartwarming story,

I think I reviewed this book at the right time, because like the little donkey, I have been feeling worthless and lost in the darkness.

I think this is differed perspective of the birth of Jesus that children will want to read again and again

The illustrations of The Little Donkey were great but I felt the story to be rushed, especially the ending. The ending felt as if it came to an abrupt halt, and while I do believe it is a good Navitiy book to read during the holidays the writing could have flowed better.

The Little Donkey is filled with beautiful illustrations. My six year old son enjoyed the pictures and the animals and finding the donkey throughout the book.

The story follows a donkey who faces discouragement about being an insignificant donkey—how can someone like him go see a king? He continues on to the quest of seeing this king. The story was simple and sweet and ended our bedtime on a good note. I think it would have been nice if there was a bit more to the ending of how this donkey who for so many pages got belittled would have had more words of value and acceptance. I added my own words to wrap up the story with how the donkey was accepted, worthy and that we can come as we are. Also, I loved how his faith was rewarded. I think the book ended too abruptly and wanted just a bit more.

Overall a good book that will work nicely in expressing that Anyone can come to the King in faith. I think the illustration would be so beautiful in a physical copy. Would use for our own Christmas book line up at home.

I have to note the word “stupid” was used for maybe households that it would be a problem.

Thank you to NorthSouth for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

The little Donkey is a beautiful Christmas story. I love the story about the donkey traveling to see Baby Jesus who the donkey refers to as the king. I am always looking for stories to read to my two year old granddaughter and books for my teen age grandchildren. The story reminds children that you do not have to be perfect Jesus loves all people regardless.

I'm always looking for books to read to young family members around Christmas, so I decided to look into this book. Thankfully I saw this title on NetGalley. The illustrations in this book were beautiful. The pictures were simple, yet eye-catching. I wasn't too fond of the story; some of the scenes felt a bit out of place to me. Although I wasn't particularly fond of it, I could see how other readers would be able to enjoy it.

What a beautiful book! The little donkey went to Bethlehem to see the baby, Jesus. Along the way, he was made to feel worthless, but he pulled himself together, and continued on his way. You could just feel the donkey stomp his feet and decide that he was good enough to greet the King. What a great lesson in perseverance to teach children. As the donkey stood in front of BabyJesus, he realized that his journey had ended, as does our journey, when we stand in front of Him. Wonderfully illustrated. The whole book brought tears to my eyes. Can’t wait to share it with my six year old grandson. I received a complimentary copy of this book from NorthSouth Books and NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is, quite simply, a gorgeous, lovely book.

A story most of us know well, this time it is told from the view of a simple donkey who wants nothing more than to go and worship the new King, in spite of all the negativity he deals from others on his trip to the manger. He simply believes and his simple faith is finally rewarded. His joy is complete.

The illustrations for this book are dreamy and beautiful, in this watercolor, out-of-focus [but not really] gorgeousness. They really enhance the story and will be a delight for both littles and adults alike as they look for what they can find in each one as the story progresses.

I can see this becoming many a families new Christmas favorite and people enjoying it for years to come. Absolutely delightful. ♥

Thank you to NetGalley, Gerda Marie Scheidl, Bernadette Watts - Illustrator, and NorthSouth Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.