Donkey-Donkey by Roger Duvoisin, Roger Duvoisin (Illustrator)

Product Details

Synopsis

Donkey-Donkey thinks that he looks ridiculous with long ears that stick straight up, so he consults his friends on the farm. Each animal has its own idea of beautiful ears—all remarkably like their own. Poor Donkey-donkey becomes sadder and sadder as he tries to follow their advice, with hilarious results. Finally, a little girl visiting the farm admires his long ears and, with new self-esteem, Donkey-donkey keeps his beautiful long ears upright from then on. This charming picture book was first published in 1933 with black-and-white illustrations and then in 1940 with beautiful fullcolor pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations. Knopf is proud to reissue a fascimile of the 1940 edition that sold more than one million copies before it became unavailable about 25 years ago.

Children's Literature

In spite of having many animal friends, a good master, and fine food, Donkey-donkey is not happy. He feels that his long ears are ridiculous. His friend Hector the dog tells him to put them down, like his. But the other animals laugh at that look. Fuzzy-fuzzy the lamb suggests an out-to-the-side placement. Unfortunately that way his ears get stuck on a nail in the stable doorway. When he consults with Rosa the pig, she proposes putting his ears in front, like hers. This causes more problems, leading to a visit to the doctor. When well, Donkey-donkey is still sad. It takes a clever sparrow to deliver the lesson of the tale—be yourself—and when a little girl calls his ears "beautiful," he is finally happy. Duvoisin's gentle line drawings demonstrate his skill in creating characters and a narrative sequencing that is effective some 70 years after their creation. Each animal becomes a personality with a few lines, while the touches of watercolors added in this edition add only a bit to the strength of the drawings. Donkey-donkey is particularly well-conceived as he responds to the changes in his ears; the vignettes depicting his medical repairs are especially appealing.

Biography

Roger Duvoisin (1900-1980) wrote and illustrated 40 books, including those featuring Veronica, the conspicuous hippopotamus, and Petunia, the silly goose. He also illustrated more than 100 written by other authors including the Happy Lion books by his wife Louise Fatio. He received a Caldecott Medal and a Caldecott Honor and was considered one of the most distinguished illustrators of the 20th century.