Review of “Donkey Dell” by Jaybie D

Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)

Author Jaybie D, the award-winning author of Haunted House Day and Night, returns with another spirited and inspired children's book in Donkey Dell!

Donkey Dell follows the titular donkey as he goes from being a rather carefree, lackadaisical, irresponsible, and immature little donkey to discovering the power of friendship, relationships, love, and responsibility.

From the very first page, Donkey Dell is immediately a captivating character. Based on the author's dad, this rambunctious donkey is charming in all his flaws and imperfections. His nonchalant, I'll-do-what-I-want-when-I-want attitude is something that a lot of us perfectionists and overachievers wish we had—the ability to not care so much that it drives you mad.

At the same time, Donkey Dell has a lot of room for learning and growth.

One of the motifs of this book is Donkey Dell's earlier desire not to want to help in carrying bags. This reflects his level of immaturity, self-centeredness, and apparent laziness. However, he gradually grows out of this and steps up to the plate when the situation (and his character arc) calls for it.

It could be argued that his growth and development as a character is the heart and soul of the book.

Donkey Dell is a character who will put smiles on the faces of kids and adults alike. Kids will love him because he's a cute animal character who often does silly and goofy things including driving an airplane at one point! Adults will love him because they will be able to relate to his desire to be free of responsibility, travel, adventure, and to do his own thing (and on his own terms). They'll also relate to the fact that, despite all of these characteristics, he still pulls up his figurative pants and ultimately gets things done, the same way that parents have to in order to provide for their children.

Outside of Donkey Dell himself, there's also Jane the mouse who helps to teach Donkey Dell out to break out of his hard outer shell and form attachments, relationships, and friendships. He ultimately uses this to join a circus and become one of its star attractions! Now, while this seems a bit random and out of nowhere, it does effectively set the stage for the climax in which Donkey Dell must overcome his less savory character traits in order to save the circus and his friends.

It has to be said that the illustrations really vary in quality. Some illustrations at the beginning and the end look outstanding! Even looking past the file compression clearly affecting the visual quality, the illustrations there look great! However, the illustrations in the middle portion fluctuate in both style and quality. There are times when it looks like some drag-and-drop/cut-and-paste stock art were included, similar to in Haunted House Day and Night. It definitely isn't as egregious in that regard as Haunted house Day and Night.

Something else that is notable is the text. Similar to the author's last book, the text is extremely stylized, often fluctuating in font and size. It almost reminds us of some of the tricks that we tried to do in the early 2000s with PowerPoints. You know, like when you give the fonts a boarder or make them look curved or wonky to stand out? There are times when we were torn about how to feel about it. On one hand, it adds some pizzazz to the book. On the other hand, it seems a bit tacky. Again, think back to those early 2000s PowerPoints.

For example, there are pages like page 12 that feature fantastic art in the background, but there's a big, bold, somewhat-tacky line of text shown above it. It's kinda like if you had the Mona Lisa but you wrote the label over it in Comic Sans font. There's a real clash in styles and presentation there. One is classical, the other is comical.

However, this book excels where it needs to. Donkey Dell is a really fun, cute, and compelling character who is presented in an appealing and charming way!

Check it out on Amazon!