Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey

Published by Dutton Children's Books, 2000

From: America - The National Catholic Weekly:

For children, grandchildren or other youngsters on your list—and for the child in all of us—I happily and confidently recommend Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey written and illustrated by Robert Byrd (Dutton Books, 40p, $15.99, hardcover). A complaining, discouraged donkey who questions why his kind “have carried heavy loads on our small backs” encounters the patron saint of animals, who through a series of creation stories and revelations, as it were, opens the donkey’s eyes to simple yet profound truths. The climax, of course, is the Nativity story, with the donkey who summoned all his strength to carry Mary to Bethlehem, then stayed nearby to help warm the newborn Jesus with his breath.

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© 2006 Robert Byrd. All rights reserved.