Donkeymania takes hold of kids
Marking the end of the school holidays, more than 200 youngsters and their parents went honky-tonky for a Wonky Donkey.
Yesterday, musician, entertainer and children’s book author Craig Smith performed a number of his hits to a sellout crowd at New Plymouth’s Rumpus Room.
One youngster said she was ‘‘so excited’’ to sing along to the popular song she had been crooning for years.
‘‘I’ve got the donkey book at my house and I’ve had it for a very long time,’’ sixyear-old Alice Maycock said.
Smith is best known for his picture book The Wonky Donkey, the popular story about a three-legged donkey.
The tongue twisting tale was turned into a song which picked up APRA children’s song of the year in 2008 and has garnered more than three million hits on YouTube, while the book has sold more than 700,000 copies.
The Queenstown man is currently touring his latest book, The Scariest Thing in the Garden, and has stopped off in Taranaki to play a number of school shows next week. Event organiser Anand Rose, a friend of Smith’s, said he had set up the children’s gig under pressure from his two little girls.
‘‘Craig is a musician in his own right,’’ Rose said. ‘‘I first met him when I put together a benefit concert at the Bowl after the Christchurch earthquake.’’
Smith had since played Singer Songwriters New Plymouth where Rose introduced him to his now partner.
The couple have recently had a baby girl.
‘‘He’s got a strong connection to Taranaki.’’
Following the show, Smith spent time with his tiny fans signing tee-shirts and books, and taking photos.
Smith said he was ‘‘hugely surprised’’ by the lingering popularity of the The Wonky Donkey book.
‘‘It surprised everyone when it first got popular,’’ he said. ‘‘Now we’ve just launched it in Asia and because they are learning English, with the CD componentry they can listen to the book without the teacher being there.’’
Smith believed its success was due to it tapping in to the three different learning styles.
‘‘With the music it’s oral, it’s kinesthetic with the moving and it’s visual with the reading and the pictures.
‘‘Kids learn in those main three ways and the book crosses all of those bases.’’