When Marcelle and Therese “Coco” find a ‘dead man’ in the forest they are eager to brag to their brother, Pascal, of their latest discovery--after all, it’s not something that any other child in the village could claim to have done. But wanting to doublecheck the facts before they tell anyone and everyone because it would be embarrassing to tell about a ‘dead’ man who was only asleep, the two go back to discover he is not dead...merely a blind man--a deserter from the army--on his way back home. Still the girls are proud to have discovered him. Their brother has never seen a blind man--let alone found a lost blind man in the forest. The three quickly become friends and their new ‘discovery’ turns out to be quite a storyteller. His stories are all fixated on donkeys. His obsession is seemingly founded on a small, miniature silver donkey he keeps in his pocket and holds for comfort.
The story in and of itself is not particularly a bad one. Yes, the writing tries a little too hard to be ‘old fashioned.’ And yes, the characters are a little one dimensional, but it wouldn’t be that bad a novel if it wasn’t trying so hard--from its elaborate design, green with silver gilding, to its glossy pages, its shiny silver end pages, its fancy fonts, its silver ribbon bookmark, it’s all much too much. (Not to mention its back cover promoting it as the next treasured classic.) The Silver Donkey is a nostalgic book for adults masquerading as a children’s book. Ultimately designed as a gift book that will appeal to adults to buy for the children and grandchildren in their lives, but may prove to young readers to be more of a bore than pleasure.
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