The Jumbies

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-8

Reading Check

1. What night is it when Corinne, her father, and the other villagers go to the cemetery?

2. What caused Nicole to choose the hill at the edge of the forest as the spot for her home with Pierre?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. As Corinne and her father walk toward the cemetery, what does the narrator reveal that shows Corinne’s fears have some basis in reality?

2. What secret does the reader learn about Corinne’s mother when the narrative perspective shifts to that of the jumbie woman in the churchyard?

3. What reason does the witch give the jumbie woman for refusing to give the jumbie the magic necessary to maintain her disguise?

Paired Resource

“Jumbies: A Field Guide”

• This is author Tracey Baptiste’s guide to the magical world of the jumbies in her books; if students are curious about the moko jumbies she mentions, you might offer them this video.
• This resource relates to the themes of Restoring Balance Through Magic and The Complexity of the Natural World.
• This is how the author of The Jumbies imagines these creatures. Do the illustrations in this field guide match the creatures in your imagination, or do you see them differently? From the descriptions in this Field Guide, do the jumbies seem to be evil, or is the situation more complicated than this? What messages about humans, spirits, and the natural world are conveyed in this Field Guide? Which of these jumbies have you seen so far in the story? Which of the jumbies you have not yet encountered in the novel are you most looking forward to? Why?

Trinidadian Lullaby

• This brief video features some older Trini men singing a traditional lullaby about jumbies and soucouyants.
• What is this lullaby saying will happen to children who refuse to go to bed when they are told to? How does the existence of this lullaby support Corinne’s feeling that jumbies are used to scare children into obedience? What are some examples of stories that other cultures tell in order to frighten children into obeying their parents?

Chapters 9-16

Reading Check

1. Who rescues the children from the danger in the river?

2. When she is crying “muddy tears” in the forest, what does Severine decide to do to revenge her sister’s death?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

What is happening when Bouki and Corinne feel something in the water touch their feet?

1. Why does Corinne throw a pot of food out the door of her father’s house?

2. How does Corinne escape from the douens?

Paired Resource

“The Frog and Lion Fairy”

• This French folktale, told here by Andrew Lang, recounts the adventures of a frog who is rescued and in return comes to the aid of her rescuer.
• This resource relates to the themes of Restoring Balance Through Magic and The Complexity of the Natural World.
• What features of this story remind you of what happens between Corinne and the frog in The Jumbies? How do both stories convey the importance of repaying debts? How do both stories demonstrate the importance of generosity and the power of cooperation? What do these ideas have to do with the balance and complexity of the natural world? Do you know of other folktales where animals rescue the humans who have rescued them? Why do you think this motif is so popular?

Chapters 17-24

Reading Check

1. What personal item of Corinne’s helps her escape from Severine when Severine threatens to kill her?

2. What does Corinne feed her father that makes him more alert?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Severine use magic to keep Pierre at home?

2. What does the white witch realize when she tastes the orange?

3. Why does Severine hide Corinne’s necklace on top of a cliff?

Paired Resource

“The Magic Orange Tree”

• This Haitian folktale was a major influence on Baptiste’s writing of The Jumbies.
• This resource relates to the themes of Restoring Balance Through Magic and The Complexity of the Natural World.
• In interviews, Tracey Baptiste has said that this story was a big influence on her when she was writing The Jumbies. What is the relationship between this story and Corinne’s orange tree? How do the magical properties of Corinne’s oranges demonstrate that the world is a complicated and mysterious place? What do the oranges make the white witch realize about Corinne and her mother? How does this impact her thinking about using her magic to help either Corinne or Severine?

Chapters 25-32

Reading Check

1. What personal reason does the white witch have for refusing to side with either the humans or the jumbies?

2. Where does Corinne throw the seed that the white witch gave her?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. When Bouki says that he does not think the humans can win if there is another fight with the jumbies, what principle of nature does Corinne remind him of?

2. Why does Malik dress up as a douen?

3. Why does Dru pry up floorboards in her room to use as an escape hatch?

Paired Resource

“The Seed-Shop”

• This Muriel Stuart poem marvels at the power of humble seeds to continue life even in desolate places.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Complexity of the Natural World.
• When the speaker of this poem looks at the seeds, what do they imagine? What seems amazing about the power of these seeds? How does the power of the seeds contrast with their appearance and their surroundings? What message about hope and the future does this poem convey? What is similar and different about the way that Baptiste uses seeds to symbolize a larger meaning about the world in The Jumbies?

Chapters 33-40

Reading Check

1. What is Dru’s plan to distract the jumbies and the villagers?

2. When Malik and Bouki believe that the villagers are about to attack them, what do they suddenly realize the villagers are really getting ready to attack?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Corinne escape when the wind is against her and pushing her boat toward the shallows?

2. What natural image does the narrative employ to show how thoroughly Dru is trapped by the nettles?

3. What brave choice does Corinne make when she realizes that the edge of the cliff juts out farther than the rocks she has been climbing up?

Paired Resource

“10 Ways to Practice Self-Acceptance”

• This Canadian mental health resource aimed at young people explains steps that people can take toward the goal of self-acceptance.
• This resource relates to the theme of The Importance of Self-Acceptance.
• Which of these tips relate most closely to Corinne’s journey to accept her real identity? How does her decision to go alone to retrieve the necklace show that she is beginning to accept her whole self? Do you think that she still has some distance to go before she fully accepts herself, or do you think she has completely embraced her new identity?

Chapters 41-44

Reading Check

1. How do the douens try to lull Malik and Bouki into dropping their guard after they drag the boys into the forest?

2. What does Corinne find inside her pendant?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do both luck and the intervention of the villagers save Dru during her encounter with the lagahoo?

2. What is so surprising to Bouki and Malik about the way that Hugo rescues them?

3. Why does Corrine grow a wall of orange trees at the edge of the forest?

Recommended Next Reads

Rise of the Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste

• This sequel to The Jumbies follows Corinne and her friends as they undertake a journey across the sea on behalf of Mama D’Leau, whose help Corinne needs in clearing her name after local children start going missing.
• Shared themes include Restoring Balance Through Magic, The Complexity of the Natural World, and The Importance of Self-Acceptance.
• Shared topics include Afro-Caribbean culture, magical realism, friendship, adventure, and coming of age.

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

• In Callender’s middle-grade novel, 12-year-old Caroline is plagued by bullies, a ghost that won’t stop following her, questions about her own sexuality, and questions about the mother who seems to have abandoned her. When a new friend arrives at school, the two team up to find answers.
• Shares the theme of The Importance of Self-Acceptance
• Shared topics include Afro-Caribbean culture, magical realism, friendship, adventure, family relationships, and coming of age.
• Hurricane Child on SuperSummary

A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow

• In this middle-grade novel, a mermaid offers Kela a wish if Kela will return her comb. Kela knows exactly what she most wants—for her mother to be alive again—but her wish comes with a terrible price.
• Shares the theme of Restoring Balance Through Magic
• Shared topics include Afro-Caribbean culture, magical realism, friendship, adventure, family relationships, and coming of age.