Mumbo Jumbo

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 this: 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.