Looking for a Jumbie

by Tracey Baptiste, Amber Ren (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

From bestselling middle grade author, Tracey Baptiste, comes her picture book debut, Looking for a Jumbie. It's the perfect blend of childhood imagination, adventure and confidence, all told through the lens of Caribbean folklore. Vibrantly illustrated by Amber Ren, who created the art for Mo Willem's Because, this is a fun read-aloud that works on many levels, including removing the stigma of the supposed scary creatures that come out at night. A fresh, creative story that everyone will fall in love with.

New York Times bestselling author Tracey Baptiste and acclaimed illustrator Amber Ren take readers on a fun, creepy, storytime-ready romp through a forest filled with creatures from Caribbean folklore.

I’m looking for a jumbie, I’m going to find a scary one.

But Mama says jumbies exist only in stories. So Naya sets out on a nighttime adventure to find out for herself.

No such thing, say the friends she makes along the way. 

But Naya is sure that jumbies are real. Some have big mouths. Or thick fur. Or glowing skin. Or sharp teeth. Kind of like her new friends.…

Looking for a Jumbie is a gentle, bouncy, and creepily fun read-aloud inspired by traditional Caribbean tales.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062970817
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/21/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	346
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Tracey Baptiste is the New York Times bestselling author of the middle grade novels Minecraft: The Crash, The Jumbies, Rise of the Jumbies, and The Jumbie God’s Revenge. A former elementary school teacher, Tracey is now on the faculty at Lesley University’s creative writing MFA program. Raised in Trinidad until she was fifteen, she now lives with her family in New Jersey. You can visit her online at traceybaptiste.com.

Amber Ren is the illustrator of Because by Mo Willems, a New York Times bestseller. She is also a visual development artist, and her work has been featured in the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art’s first online exhibition, “ART in PLACE: Social Distancing in the Studio.” You can find her online at www.amber-ren.com.

Editorial Reviews

"A vibrant and entertaining tale filled with mythical creatures from Caribbean stories that is perfect for Halloween and year-round." — School Library Journal

"The illustrations are colorful and dreamlike, and Ren pays special attention to accentuating the features of characters. A nice addition to offerings on being afraid of the dark, monsters, or nighttime adventures." — Booklist

From the Publisher

"The illustrations are colorful and dreamlike, and Ren pays special attention to accentuating the features of characters. A nice addition to offerings on being afraid of the dark, monsters, or nighttime adventures."

Booklist

★ 09/01/2021

K-Gr 2—It's getting dark, so Naya's mother calls her to come to bed. But Naya says that she's not scared of the Jumbies, creatures from Caribbean stories similar to fairies and trolls that come out at night. Naya's mom tells her that Jumbies are only in stories, but Naya goes searching for one anyway. She doesn't find a scary Jumbie, but she does discover an interesting cast of mythical creatures from Caribbean folklore. Every creature she encounters is nothing like she imagined, a helpful reminder that you can't always believe what you read in stories. This is an adorable tale of a girl's mission to find legendary figures that will be familiar to some readers and brand-new to others. Each creature is presented in a visually pleasing way. The bright images are the perfect way to illustrate this upbeat story. The layout and size of the sentences vary depending on the page or the background image, which makes for a dynamic reading experience. VERDICT A vibrant and entertaining tale filled with mythical creatures from Caribbean stories that is perfect for Halloween and year-round.—Myiesha Speight, formerly at Towson Univ., Baltimore

School Library Journal

★ 2021-07-14
Naya knows that tonight is perfect for searching for something scary, but with some new companions, she won’t have to search alone.

As Naya’s mother puts her to bed, the brown-skinned duo’s hair appropriately wrapped, indoor and outdoor animals exactly where they need to be, a full moon and stars twinkling brightly above, Naya has already decided she’s going on an adventure. She’s going to find a jumbie—a creature of Caribbean folklore—an especially scary one, expressing this in a refrain that recalls “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.” Ren’s friendly cartoons illustrate Naya’s path out from her warm, pink home into the lush, green outdoors. Over the course of her journey, Naya comes across some striking creatures that couldbe jumbies, but they’re not quite scary enough. In fact, every creature she meets tonight is so friendly it joins her in her search for a scary jumbie. By journey’s end, her team is as vibrant and diverse as the stories and legends in which jumbies are traditionally found. Baptiste returns Naya and her story back home eventually, but not before introducing readers to a cast of folk characters from the Douen to Mama D’Leau. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Whether or not jumbies are real is never fully revealed, but the power of their stories is as clear as day. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews