A Donkey for a King

A Horn Book Fanfare honoree


The story of a shepherd lad in Israel long ago. When Jesse, orphaned and mute, was sent away by his cruel aunt, the boy found work with a traveling circus. Isolated by his muteness, the boy came to love an old white donkey; when the donkey was sold, Jesse ran off to find him. He found that the family that had bought the animal was in a manger; indeed, he found the three men from afar who had followed the strange, bright star that had alarmed everybody. Jesse took the donkey, lost it, found it and the family again, and realized that the Child was the long-awaited Messiah.