When I moved to a new town, I lived a very short distance down the road from a farm that had a donkey in a field near the road. The donkey would bray several times a day, and I could hear it when I was outside. The poor little donkey sounded so sad I was sure she needed a friend. I came up with the idea of the old woman as a friend for the lonely donkey. That is how Sally the Lonely Donkey came into being. In future books, Sally will meet and become friends with other country animals.
