Looking for a Jumbie

 Looking for a Jumbie (2021) by Tracey Baptiste

Naya's mother tells her that it's getting dark and it's time for bed, but Naya insists that she wants to stay out and find a jumbie. Jumbies are night creatures that come in a variety of types and wait to scare little boys and girls who don't go to bed as they should. But Naya still wants to find one and sneaks out of her window to go looking for a jumbie. She finds creatures in her journey and as each one matches a description of a particular type of jumbie, they explain their differences to Naya.

"Everyone's mouth is big when they yawn."

"...it's just good sense to wear something shiny when it's dark out" (says a creature wrapped in chains)

So Naya keeps searching for a scary one, but soon her search takes her back home where she belongs.

A lovely little picture book that uses Caribbean folklore to teach children that just because someone is different doesn't mean they're necessarily scary. Maybe what seems different isn't as different as you think (everyone's mouth is big when they yawn) or maybe there's a practical reason for the difference like wearing something shiny in the dark. But once you know them, they're not really scary after all. ★★★★