Jump Up Time: A Trinidad Carnival Story

by Lynn Joseph, Linda Saport (Illustrator)

Vivid pastel drawings display the excitement of the carnival as Lily desperately wishes she was the one to participate in the Children's Carnival wearing the beautiful hummingbird costume instead of her sister.

Genres: Picture Books, Cultural, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 21, 1998

About the author

Lynn Joseph's adventure travel, island hopping, and lifelong wandering have a purpose. And it's not just to find the best crepes, gelato, and champagne! She swears! Lynn writes about the places she falls in love with. She's discovered in her travels that everyone is looking for a romance and a happy ending! Especially romance authors! Her USA home base is the charming Ferry Village in South Portland, Maine, and her international home base is the Caribbean Island of Tobago, where she’s known as the Mermaid Queen. Lynn believes in protagonists of color traveling and changing the world. And falling in love, of course! She almost always finds a way to work in crepes, gelato, or champagne as part of the story (to support the research!) If you're ready for some sweet romance, join Lynn on her journey of love, food, and romantic destinations (not necessarily in that order).

Reviews

[Anna Squires-Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lily, like most younger children, finds herself fed up with being the youngest or “too young” to participate, especially as this year’s carnival rolls around. Lily is annoyed that everyone in her house including her parents are all wrapped up in making her sister’s hummingbird carnival costume. But what Lily doesn’t know is that her sister is scared to be in front of all those people during the carnival and she wishes she had her younger sister’s confidence. “Jump Up Time,” is a wonderful and engaging story for children prekindergarten and up. It opens the door for children to discuss aspects of a culture they might not be familiar with through the vibrant and colorful illustrations and the rich yet simple plot about the two almost envious sisters. The illustrations are lively and fiery like the entire island during the carnival time of year. I chose the book for this text set because it felt like I was telling the story and that I was Christine. Carnival is a very important part of each individual Caribbean Island’s culture. The characters throughout the book have realistic emotions and feelings that everyone with siblings can relate to. For that reason, it also makes this book very relatable for any child of any ages who has younger or older siblings. Overall I would say that this is a great quality book for younger children. It accuractely describes a community that in the United States might be marginalized and often ignored in literacy. Also the book is very realistic fiction.

[Elizabeth]

This story is told partly in vernacular (it takes place in Trinidad, where the author is from).

It's an interesting choice to have sort of watercolor illustrations that give a blurry feel to the images given how much of the narrative details the Carnival costumes, specifically the hummingbird costume for the protagonist's older sister.

The narrative will resonate with younger siblings who have felt jealous of older siblings, and there's some nice sisterly care near the end.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Multicultural/International. A trinidad carnival story about a young girl who is jealous of her older sister and her chance to perform in the carnival. She ends up happy for her older sister in the end though.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know much about Carnival so this story about a girl who envies her older sister's participation in the Trinidad Carnival experience was illuminating for me. Just the right mix of storytelling and cultural education.

[Alyssa McGregor]

Jump Up Time: A Trinidad Carnival Story, written by Trinidadian native Lynn Joseph and illustrated by Linda Saport. This book falls under the genre of realistic fiction because Carnival time is something that happens every year throughout the Caribbean. However, the characters in this story are fictional. The book tells the story of a young Trini girl that wants to play mas in Carnival with her older sister but is too young. The book can help children understand that even though they want to participate in an activity, they may not be at the same age. Many young children with older siblings can be able to relate. The story has a sequential plot line. The story describes the coming days of Carnival and how the young girl and her family are preparing for it. There is also a problem and resolution that the main character Lily and her sister Christine go through. The author uses language and style that a young child will be able to understand.

The illustrations are bright, pastel drawings in glowing tropical colors that can catch a child's eye. The illustrations also depict Lily and her family as a native Trinidadian family. The illustrator also involves images of Carnival like costumes, food, and culture.

This book does not represent other cultural groups other than the Caribbean and Trinidadian. Children are exposed to Carnival in Trinidad and what that experience is like. The author uses Trinidadian dialect as the characters speak throughout the story. I like that the book involves authentic Trinidadian culture that can be explored more in the classroom. Even though there is not much diversity represented in the book, the book still can help a child understand a different culture more.