State Library of Louisiana Library System

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2017

Format:	Book
Author:	Downing, Johnette, author.
Title:	Mumbo jumbo, stay out of the gumbo / Johnette Downing ; illustrated by Jennifer Lindsley.
Publisher, Date:	Gretna, Louisiana : Pelican Publishing Company, 2017.
Description:	1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm illustration
Summary:	"It's Fat Tuesday, and things are getting hot. This Courir de Mardi Gras, one clever rooster vows that he will not end up in the gumbo pot! As masked Carnival revelers travel across Acadiana begging for ingredients for their communal gumbo, the rooster flies ahead to warn the alligator, goose, crawfish, shrimp, pig, oysters, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and chickens to hide and stay out of sight. Although the revelers visit every farmhouse, there is 'nary a critter from a gator to a mouse'! How will the Cajuns celebrate Mardi Gras without gumbo?"--Page 2 of dust jacket.
Subjects:	Gumbo (Soup) -- Juvenile fiction. Carnival -- Louisiana -- Acadiana -- Juvenile fiction. Roosters -- Juvenile fiction. Animals -- Juvenile fiction. Acadiana (La.) -- Social life and customs -- Juvenile fiction.
Notes:	Includes a glossary of traditional French-Cajun words used in the story and a recipe for gumbo z'herbes created by the author's husband, Scott Billington.
ISBN:	1455623008 9781455623006
Other Number:	954271209
System Availability:	2
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# Local items:	2
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Horn Book Review

A rooster evades would-be captors in this story about the traditional Courir de Mardi Gras, or "chicken run"; every Fat Tuesday, revelers go around collecting ingredients, including a chicken, for communal gumbo. A singsongy text, sprinkled with French-Cajun words and the titular refrain, ends with a clever-enough twist: vegetarian gumbo. Garish, unpolished illustrations do the book no service. Author's note and recipe appended. Glos. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

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 chre, 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 lowand 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Summary

"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.

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