Why read Looking for a Jumbie?

Book cover of Looking for a Jumbie

Book description

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…

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Topics

Genres

Mythology

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Looking for a Jumbie as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jane Yolen

Author

The book's great front matter invites the child reader to experience a journey through the night to search for jumbies, which are, it explains, not friendly. But then, within the pages, the jumbies, though lying gently to the child, are, in fact, quite friendly. The darkness is, sort of, implied for later.

I love this ambiguity–gentle enough to allow this book to exist but mysterious enough to open up possibilities. This book will definitely serve as an introduction to the author’s middle-grade series. It is dark, luminous, and wonderful.

From Jane's list on The best picture books with kids and mythical creatures.

Brian Anderson

Author

When I was a kid I loved looking for monsters. When we drove through the New England woods, I would stare between the trees, convinced I would glimpse a shadowy creature. This book brought back lots of memories. As this book shows, you learn a lot about yourself when you go looking for things that you shouldn’t.

From Brian's list on The best children’s books with not so scary monsters.