'Bravo the Donkey and other stories for Christmas' brings together the details of the traditional biblical story of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus with contemporary resonances. With gentle humour the reader or hearer is drawn to the nativity scene through different characters involved: some factual, some traditional and some fictional. This is a book to appeal to adults and to older children: anyone who would like a book of short stories to keep or to give away around Christmas time. The stories are presented in a way that also makes them easier for reading aloud whether to a few people at home or to a larger gathering. There is some scope to use different voices and dialects to bring the characters to life or to add songs or music for audience participation.