Mumbo Jumbo

by Michael Roberts

Wizards, skeletons, spells, sorcerers, and dragons &Mac222;ll this second lavishly produced children's book by acclaimed New Yorker-cover artist Michael Roberts. In verse and in cutout collages, Roberts takes children on a mystical journey through the alphabet from "Abracadabra" to "Zombies." For each letter in the alphabet, Roberts composes a full-page image created with scissors and colored paper. Across from each image, Roberts contributes a poem, ranging from the epigrammatic to the mini-epic. The poem for the letter Y goes like I met a yeti in Tibet. Took him home to be a pet. Ate my friends and family. Think he's saving me for tea. Then there's the one about Mabel the witch, the sneezing dragon, Pumpkin Man, and eyeball stew.... Mumbo Jumbo tickles and chills older kids with its witty verse and helps younger children learn the alphabet by matching up letters and pictures.

64 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vibrant illustrations.
Hilarious poetry.
In other words, fracking great.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mumbo Jumbo "The Creepy ABC" is very clever. Big colorful pictures. The text is probably best appreciated by adults. Here is a nod to Edgar Allan Poe. R is for Raven. "Never make a raven mad- his temper is extremely bad. He also can and this is worse-Zap you with a nasty curse. Perhaps you think this isn't so? Just ask the guy who called him "crow." The raven turned him into straw, Then flew off squawking, "Nevermore."

I like the beginning of the book! "Midnight strikes and witches fly, Broomsticks fill the starry sky. Magic now comes into focus, Mumbo Jumbo, hocus pocus. Spells are made with midnight's chime, Magic poems set in rhyme. Cauldrons thick with lizard gumbo, Hocus Pocus, Mumbo Jumbo."

[Stéphanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un superbe abécédaire basé sur les créatures fantastiques et horrifiantes (dragons, momies, sorcières, chauves-souris, etc), avec une ambiance très "Halloween" et de courts textes très rythmés et rimés. ♥♥♥