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Crash Bang Donkey!

Name: Crash Bang Donkey!
Author: Jill Newton
ISBN: 9780807513309

by Jill Newton

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Overview

Things are quiet on Peaceful Farm... until Donkey shows up! First he makes a racket with his great big drum and tootling trumpet. Then he raises a ruckus banging the piano and jamming his guitar! Farmer Gruff, of course, isn't pleased at all. But one day, everyone realizes that just as there's a time to be quiet, there's a time to be noisy, too, and at last Donkey discovers his purpose. Jill Newton's rambunctious story and rich illustrations will bring welcome energy to any storytime.

Synopsis

A donkey's loud musical instruments annoy Farmer Gruff—until he discovers that the music keeps away the pesky crows that have been eating his corn crop.

Publishers Weekly

Children who are always being told to quiet down will appreciate the story of a noisy donkey whose racket turns out to have real value. Farmer Gruff spends his days defending his crop from marauding crows, and he's short of sleep. When Crash Bang Donkey shows up with his musical instruments—“PLINK PLONK PLONK PLINK! 'Come on, Pigster, feel the groove!' ” he brays—the farm animals try in vain to keep him from waking the farmer. But after sending the donkey away, Farmer Gruff changes his mind when he discovers that Crash Bang Donkey's music making is good for keeping the crows away. Newton's (Larry and Rita) fluffy, pastel animals and landscapes work well with the pastoral setting, though they don't exactly play up Crash Bang Donkey's raucous obliviousness as he bangs on his drums and blares his trumpet with groovester abandon. The best spreads are the closeups that pit the donkey against a single adversary: a shocked chicken or an irritated Farmer Gruff. The ample onomatopoetic words encourage reading aloud at the maximum decibel level permitted. Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature - Vicki Foote

The combination of a donkey that plays musical instruments, some corn-eating crows, and a sleepy farmer creates problems down on the farm. Farmer Gruff is happy except for the fact that the crows eat his corn day and night. He does not get enough sleep since he has to chase the crows away all the time. The farm animals are quiet when he is sleeping, but then a donkey playing drums comes over the hill. Then he plays a trumpet, and the farm animals ask him to stop. He does not hear them, and goes on playing the piano, the guitar, and the flute. When Donkey finally hears the farm animals, Farmer Gruff wakes up. Donkey tells him about all the instruments he can play, but Farmer Gruff makes him leave. Donkey comes back and plays his music in the barn, but this time the animals and Farmer Gruff are delighted when they see that the noise is chasing the crows away. Donkey gets to stay and play both quiet and loud music. Lots of loud sounds coming from the instruments make this a lively story to read aloud. The humorous illustrations are large and colorful. Reviewer: Vicki Foote

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2—Farmer Gruff is very tired because he spends his days and nights trying to keep the hungry crows away from his cornfields. All of the animals are careful to be quiet so they don't wake him up while he tries to sleep. Then a clamorous donkey comes crashing onto the scene with a variety of musical instruments, and peace and quiet are forgotten. Children will delight in learning how the donkey creates such a hullabaloo and rids the farmer of the pesky crows. This story is along the lines of June Crebbin's Cows in the Kitchen (Candlewick, 1998), Teresa Bateman's Farm Flu (Albert Whitman, 2001), and Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Punk Farm (Knopf, 2005). Newton's painterly, muddy, and boldly colored illustrations enhance a rhythmic story that is sure to please storytime crowds, and the spread showing all of the animals on different instruments playing a lullaby for the dozing farmer is a delight.—Melissa Smith, Green Valley Library, Henderson, NV

Kirkus Reviews

This book, told with a sure storyteller's voice, will be a crowd pleaser. On the very first page, it is obvious that red-bearded Farmer Gruff needs more sleep. Day and night, he must chase away the crows that are eating all his corn. As the Farmer sleeps in exhaustion, all the little animals on the farm quietly tiptoe through the day, until . . . With a crash of color and text that yells, Donkey barrels over the hill in full bray, banging on a bass drum. All the other animals rush to quiet the noisy donkey, who blasts trumpets, twangs guitars and plunks on keyboards, all with onomatopoeic textual accompaniment that begs audience participation. Being a groovy and obedient Donkey, the noisemaker sadly secludes himself in a faraway barn. Even from there, though, Donkey's cacophony scares away the crows, a surprising solution that illustrates there is a time and a place for everything. Newton captures the boisterous fun without tipping over the edge into wildness-just right for a young audience. (Picture book. 4-8)