''The Wonky Donkey'' is a 2009

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

by New Zealander Craig Smith. It is illustrated by British-born Katz Cowley, who has a degree in Illustration from the

University of Northumbria , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = � ...

. The book is based upon a song that Smith wrote in 2005 after hearing the joke: "What do you call a

donkey The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

with three legs? – A wonky donkey". In 2018 the book was featured in a

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander Haupt ...

of a Scottish grandmother laughing hysterically as she attempted to read it to her grandchild, leading to a surge in purchases of the book worldwide.

Awards

* Children's Choice Award by the

New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a series of literary awards presented annually to recognise excellence in children and young adult's literature in New Zealand. The awards began in 1982 as the New Zealand Governme ...

* The song was the APRA New Zealand Children's Song of the Year Award in 2008.

Controversy

In 2010 a schoolteacher alleged that Smith had heavily based the book on several internet jokes and had not referenced this in his work. Smith and his publisher responded by stating that the song predated the specific versions that the educator had seen on the internet and that it was possible that these versions had emerged because of his success with the song and resulting book.

References

External links

*
The Wonky Donkey Book websiteKatz Cowley website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wonky Donkey 2009 children's books New Zealand children's books Scholastic Corporation books Fictional donkeys Children's books about donkeys