Let’s just start with watching the video that went viral and is the sole reason for this Wonky Donkey blog post:
The book she is reading is titled The Wonky Donkey, by author Craig Smith and illustrator Katz Cowley.
In this very funny, cumulative song, each page tells us something new about the donkey until we end up with a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey, which will have children in fits of laughter! There is much fun to be had by listening to the song and trying to predict the new word for each clue given!
Obviously, it will not only have children in fits of laughter, as the video cleary shows. In the video, you see Scottish grandmother Janice Clark reading this book to her four-month-old grandson Archer. She had so much fun reading it, that her daughter decided to film it and post it online. Almost immediately, the video went viral. It was shared around the world, and viewed over 3 million times in less than a week.
The response to the viral video
The video gave people joy and reignited people’s love for reading. Not only that, it also sent so many people to the bookstore that the book quickly sold out. The New Zealand publisher quickly rushed to print another 50,000 copies of the picture book released back in 2009. While it did sell already about 1 million copies before the viral video, those were mainly sold in Australia and New Zealand. This viral video will create a more global readership for this lovely, funny picture book.
The author himself said:
“The video is gold. Watching Janice read and laugh was just delightful, and like many, her infectious laugh had me laughing too,” said Smith. “I’ve always wondered why sales had not taken off so much in the UK and US, but that looks like that’s about to change.”
source: The Guardian
How cool is that? The things a short little video can do to lift people’s spirits and boost book sales! I love this! And if anyone knows where I can get my hands on a copy? Please let me know! I’m dying to read this now as well!
Happy reading,
Loes M.