Gumbo Goes Downtown

Running away from home! How doesn't sometimes dream of it? To go someplace else, to be somebody else!

Here is the story of a loveable mutt named Gumbo, who- longing to be SOMEBODY- abandons his watchdog duties and follows the streetcar tracks downtown to the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. There he discovers a world of new experiences and meets a colorful cast of canine characters, including a dancing poodle and self-appointed tour guide named Pompon, the blue-ribboned Champion Stella de Chateau Blanc, the fearsome Catahoula Hound and, finally, a nameless, homeless dog who visits Gumbo on the moonlit levee like a sad dream.

On his journey, Gumbo learns that the identity he seeks is not to be found in new places, however exciting, or in new acquaintances, however distinguished. For Gumbo, the road to self-esteem leads right back home, where he loves and is loved and where he is, after all, somebody very important.

Author Carol Talley, a former resident of New Orleans, returned to this picturesque city with award-winning illustrator Itoko Maeno, tracing Gumbo's journey down St. Charles Avenue and through the French Quarter to Jackson Square and the riverfront. From Gumbo's own shotgun house with its rose-bedecked chain-link fence to the sun-drenched Mississippi with its mighty ships and paddle wheelers, they have captured the kaleidoscopic magic of New Orleans for this classic tale of running away and returning.