A Donkey Reads

by Muriel Mandell, André Letria (Illustrator)

Tells the tale of a poor villager named Mustafo, a tyrannical Mongol ruler, and the 13th Century wiseman, Nasreddin Hoca, who is able to avoid the conqueror's wrath by actually teaching a donkey to read.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Cultural

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2010

Reviews

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adaptation of a Turkish folktale features Nasreddin Hoca, a 13th-century teacher, judge and imam whose writings are well known in the Middle East. This is the story of a village in Anatolia that was conquered by the Mongols. The Mongol leader demanded that every family pay tribute, but one family had only a worthless donkey to offer the leader. When the Mongol leader reacts with fury at the tribute, Nasreddin speaks up and tells the him that the donkey is worth something, in fact Nasreddin will teach the donkey to read. Everyone is shocked, but Nasreddin is calm and confident that it will happen. The ending will have reader giggling at the humor and courage of Nasreddin’s solution.

Mandell has adapted this tale with a great feel for storytelling. Her pacing is adept and her wording easy to share aloud. The tale is universal in its appeal, thanks in particular to the humor that pervades it. The end of the book has a page where the story of Nasreddin is shared with the reader. It’s a trickster tale with only a donkey as an animal.

Letria’s art is filled with textures and colors. The pages have backgrounds that are rough with brushstrokes, peeling and colors. They add a feeling of age to the book, giving it a strong organic quality as well. The characters pop on the page, especially Nasreddin with his towering headwear. The illustrations add a great appeal to the story.

A window into another world of folktales that many of us have not experienced, this book offers plenty of humor and an appealing package. Appropriate for ages 5-8.

[Kayla Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful Turkish folktale that makes me (and my students) giggle every time! Beautiful illustrations.

[Rumaisa Bilal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever seen a donkey who can read?
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If not, then you need to see "A donkey read" famous 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗸𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗸𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲 by yours and mine childhood favorite 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐜𝐚 which will leave you laugh out loud with your kids. This book is 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 @starbrightbooks
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Note: There is mention of beating and lashed by an angry conqueror.
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Wise Hoca is always there to help support his people even during toughest time after getting captured by Seljuks. As a conqueror who demands tribute from even the poorest people of the village like Mustafo's family who hadn't anything to offer but rather an old donkey, which was definitely not accepted by Seljuk conqueror. Nassriddin Hoca was there with his wisdom to train an ordinary old donkey how to "read" to save Mustafo from getting beaten by Mangol conqueror.
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Honestly you will laugh out loud to read how Hoca made that poor creature read but there wasn't any guarantee that it saved him from getting beaten up.
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I loved to see the last page being provided with information about Turkey. While there are several versions of Hoca/Hoja/Mulla Nasruddin books out there and very few of them shows hoja as a good Muslim character in his illustration and story line. I'll highly suggest this book.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is set in a very poor village in Turkey. The Mongols ruler insists that each family give him a gift. The family can only spare an old donkey. The father convinces the Mongols ruler that he can teach the donkey to read. The father is tricky in how he feeds the donkey so by the time they return to the palace, the donkey appears to read for the ruler. This is a cute folk tale which teaches us about another culture.

teaching application- I think that in today's society it is beneficial for students to learn about kids and cultures different from ours. As educators we can help make differences seem less different. Children from all around the world love a story, gee...maybe we do have something in common.

[Savannah Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donkey Reads is a folktale from Turkey written by Muriel Mandell and illustrated by Andre Letria. This one made me laugh out loud the first time I read it with the kids. The children didn't quite see the humor without explanation. They had a lot of great questions though about why these people were giving the leader all of their things, what is a tyrant, why did the man take away the donkeys food, how did the donkey turn the pages?

I'd like to see if I can find more stories from Nasreddin Hoca, I like the way he thinks ❤

[Hanna Simiele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cute folktale! This story is also well written and so entertaining and enjoyable. Children will be entertained by how the villager tricks the cruel, mean tyrant and saves the family from bad consequences. What makes me laugh is that the wiseman really does teach the donkey to read and how he does it! Like I said it's such an enjoyable and cute story to read. The illustrations are also very nice, classic looking.

[Lisa Mercer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Donkey Reads is adapted from a Turkish folklore and set in Anatolia, what is now known as Turkey. The artwork, done in acrylic, gave a nice texture to the rugs, clothing, and donkey. The facial expressions and eyes were quite expressive, leading to the overall anguish and elation of the characters. Nasredda Hoca was a real imam, or wise man, and the manner he uses to teach the donkey how to read is very clever. A very enjoyable read.

[Kara Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ruler, Mustafo was all alone and the only thing he had was a donkey. He was determined that he would be able to teach the donkey how to read. The illustrations are cool. I like how the characters are drawn out to have bigger heads than their body. I also like that they listed and pictured the things that they were gifting for him.

[TaNera Rodriguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in the story of A Donkey Reads but I honestly don't think I got the concept o the book besides being entertained. This would be a book, I kept in my library just for entertainment purposes or I guess as the child became older we could read this and talk about tyrants and the past in history.

[Regan Brakebush]

This was so cute and clever! It was amusing to see how the man trained the donkey to appear as though it was reading. Very cute and very funny. The end of the book includes a brief explanation of who the man was and why he was important to Turkish history/culture, so there are some educational fun facts in there as well.

[Christian Abrigg · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A Donkey Reads" was a unique story that followed a poor villager named Mustafo. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book just because it's not a very relatable to the kids you'd be reading this to. It was fun and had cool illustrations but I wouldn't read to most kids just based on that. I wish it had a better overall theme.

[Alyssa Godfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was okay. I see there are many different themes that can be taken away which will make for great in-class discussions, but overall this book was good. I think this book is meant for a more advanced reader, given that the word count on the pages was higher as well as some more advanced language. Some history was integrated into the book as well.

[Natalie Herzberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book the donkey reads is a Turkish folk tale featuring a 13th century wise man the man offers his only possession which is a donkey, and the man claims that he can teach the donkey to read which leads to humor and also shows a resolution. The book is vibrant and also very humorous for young children

[Kaitlyn Faulkner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition to being wonderfully written, this narrative is incredibly delightful and amusing. The way the villager deceives the vicious, harsh dictator and protects the family from negative outcomes will amuse children. The fact that the wise man actually teaches the donkey to read and how he does it makes me laugh!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book to accompany our studies of Turkey as it is an adapted tale from that country featuring one of their folk heroes, Nasreddin Hoca. The story is entertaining and the illustrations are fun and colorful. A great book to read with your kids!

[superawesomekt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This simple Turkish tale is clever and full of humor. Young children will particularly enjoy it. The illustrations and writing were good, but not something exceptional. I think it would be a solid addition a collection of international stories and folktales.

[Alisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great tale. I want to learn more about the wiseman and Turkey in general.

[Oxalis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and cute.

[Jungsook Chung · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened to study with the author of this story, Muriel Mandell, on the zoom. The class was for Memoir Writing. I was amzed by the fact that some of the students were authors or jounalists but they still wanted to learn how to write memoirs. How modest they were!

Out of all, I was most impressed by Muriel Mandell. She was introduced as ninety one years old by the instructor on the first day of the class, but Muriel said that she was one hundread three years old on the last day of the class. How can you imagine that someone over a hundred year old is still so intelligent as to share her opinions on others' writing?

When this book was published, she might have been ninety years old. Mandell was born in 1921 and this cute story was published in 2011.

I was fascinated by the illustrations. It is adapted from a Turkish(Seljuks) Folklore. If you want to know more about the story, just read it. It is only thirty two pages and worth reading it. It is cute and interesting. I like how Muriel, the former journalist, wrote it.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

In ancient Anatolia, what is now Turkey, a tyrannical mongol demands tribute from each family in his realm. Mustafo and his family are poor and the only thing they have to offer in tribute is their old, worn-out donkey. So Mustafo reluctantly agrees to take to donkey to town. However, the mongol is infuriated that Mustafo dared to bring such a creature as tribute! Musatfo is do be beaten. However, the village wise man, Nasreddin Hoca (an actual historical figure), comes to the rescue and promises he can teach this "intelligent" donkey how to read. The mongol gives Nasreddin one month to teach the donkey how to read or else he will be beaten as well.

Nasreddin works with the donkey for a month and again takes him before the mongol. You'll have to read the story to find out what happens!

[Kelly Tannhauser]

This book consists of an old Turkish folktale about a donkey. Mongols took over a small village and requested every villager to contribute something despite their wealth status. Mustafo and his family were poor and only had an old Donkey to offer. The Mongol was unimpressed but the wise village man offered to take him home for a month and teach him how to read, to attempt to impress the Mongol. Something that I noticed from the beginning of the book is that some of the words used or a bit advanced depending on the age level in mind. As well as the ending of the book is mediocre and not extremely satisfying or definite

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Donkey Reads was a fun book with not much meaning behind it. Children would love the context of it because of the sense of humor it contains.
When a less fortunate family presents a lousy gift of a donkey before the tyrant, a village wise man steps in and accepts the donkey to prevent punishment for the family. The wise man objects that the donkey is intelligent because he will teach the donkey how to read. The tyrant gives him one month to teach the donkey to read or else there will be a punishment. The wise man ends up merely teaching the donkey to flip pages and when the time comes, proves to the tyrant that he is reading...in his mind!

[Stacy Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poor family cannot provide anything to the new Mongol ruler in thier native Turkey. All they have is a scrawny donkey that is good for nothing. They know that the new ruler will only be infuriated by the donkey, but they have nothing else to give. So, the father takes him to be presented to the ruler and their worst fears come true. Luckily the local imam, Nasreddin Hoca intervenes. He tells the ruler he will teach the donkey how to read.

A good tale. Useful for showing traditional stories from other parts of the world.

[Arthur Pengerbil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Level: Grades 3 - 5

When an evil Mongol invader demands tribute from everyone in a small Turkish town one family can only offer an old donkey. Nasreddin Hoca saves the day by promising to teach the donkey to read in one month. How is that possible?

For more book reviews from the HPPL Youth Department, click here.

[Yahya Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a small village in Anatolia, even the poorest villager is expected to pay tribute to a tyrannical Mongol ruler, but the wiseman, Nasreddin Hoca, finds a way to make an aged donkey seem most valuable. By teaching a donkey to read –or so it seems- Nasreddin Hoca outwits a Mongol ruler, saves villager, and gives an entire Turkish town a laugh they won’t soon forget.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clever retelling accompanied by highly attractive illustrations.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

hilarious. good pictures. multicultural. folk tale.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended by kids for NYRA 2013, this is an interesting adaptation of a Turkish Folktale.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A clever Turkish folk tale, but the characters are confusing for me and I envision kids being mystified.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent children's book adapting a Mullah Nasruddin story with wonderful illustration!