Mumbo Jumbo, Stay Out of the Gumbo

by Johnette Downing, Molen Michiel Van Der (Illustrator)

Overview

“In Lindsley’s vigorously brushed rural scenes, the comically gesticulating red rooster often occupies the foreground as, behind, a multiracial procession of revelers in colorful festival costume goes from farm to farm begging for a handout.”
—Kirkus

With her trademark lyricism, Louisiana musician and author Johnette Downing draws readers through an Acadian landscape. This brand-new tale introduces a cagey rooster who vows not to be in the communal gumbo pot this Courir de Mardi Gras. Downing provides a glossary of traditional French-Cajun words used in the story and a delicious recipe for gumbo z’herbes .

Award-winning musician and author Johnette Downing has performed on five continents. Her book Petit Pierre and the Floating Marsh represented the State of Louisiana in the Pavilion of States at the 2016 National Book Festival.

A relative of Dennis (Denus) McGee, the Cajun musician whose grave is a traditional stop on the Courir de Mardi Gras, Jennifer Lindsley works with all ages, introducing them to the pleasures of creativity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455623006
Publisher:	Arcadia Pub
Publication date:	02/08/2017
Sales rank:	427,757
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

Johnette Downing is an award-winning and internationally recognized singer and songwriter. Her many accolades include eight Parents’ Choice Awards, four iParenting Media Awards, and five National Parenting Publication Awards. She wrote and/or illustrated There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Bugs, Why the Crawfish Lives in the Mud, How to Dress a Po’ Boy, Why the Oyster Has the Pearl, Why the Possum Has a Large Grin, Macarooned on a Dessert Island, The Fifolet, and other Pelican titles. Downing lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Since she began coloring on walls as a child, Jennifer Lindsley has created artwork in almost every medium. She received her bachelor of arts in design technology from University of Northern Colorado and a license in art education K-12 from North Carolina Central University. Since returning to Louisiana, Lindsley has taught age-specific, specialty art classes for children and adults.

Editorial Reviews

2016-12-26
It's Fat Tuesday, and the bubbling gumbo needs some meat! Or does it?Seeing the Courir de Mardi Gras, the ritual hunt, forming, a red rooster sets out to warn all the animals: "Le capitaine puts on / his capuchon. / Hey, alligator, / you better get gon'!" Once the goose, the pig, the crawfish, the oysters, and the other creatures have been likewise alerted (with the titular chorus), is the rooster's work done? "The band is playing on the front stoop. / Oh mais chère, I better warn the coop!" In Lindsley's vigorously brushed rural scenes, the comically gesticulating red rooster often occupies the foreground as, behind, a multiracial procession of revelers in colorful festival costume goes from farm to farm begging for a handout. Alas, the forewarned animals are all lying low—and so it is that "Across Acadiana with no animals in sight, / all the Cajuns eat gumbo z'herbes tonight." Cultural notes and a recipe for "green gumbo" cap this mildly subversive nod to a Mardi Gras tradition and a delicious regional dish. Unfortunately, although the refrain is set in a contrasting display type, much of the narrative text is set in black type against deep blue skies, making large portions of it very difficult to read. "I root for the chicken!" writes Downing. Readers with good eyesight, even carnivorous ones, will too. (glossary) (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews