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    Epossumondas
    Epossumondas
    Epossumondas
    Ebook39 pages5 minutes

    Epossumondas

    By Coleen Salley and Janet Stevens

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Who's Epossumondas? Why, he's his mama's and his auntie's sweet little patootie, that's who. He's also the silliest, most lovable, most muddleheaded possum south of the Mason-Dixon line!
    Better choose your words wisely when he's around, 'cause otherwise you never know what you'll get. Epossumondas just might bring you a fist full of crumbs, or a soaking wet puppy, or a scruffy wad of bread--oh, you just wouldn't believe it!
    Renowned storyteller Coleen Salley and Caldecott Honor illustrator Janet Stevens team up for this outrageous twist on the Southern story of the noodlehead who takes everything way too literally. (Or is that Epossumondas just pulling his mama's leg?)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 1, 2002
    ISBN9780547768991
    Author

    Coleen Salley

    Coleen Salley (1929-2008) was a renowned storyteller, a distinguished professor of children's literature, and the author of a number of beloved picture books. The classic Southern story of Epaminondas was her longtime trademark tale at storytelling performances nationwide. She adapted this story into the acclaimed picture book Epossumondas, followed by Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail, Epossumondas Saves the Day, and Epossumondas Plays Possum, all illustrated by Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Janet Stevens. She was raised  in Baton Rouge and lived most of her adult life in New Orleans. She was a Professor Emeritus of the University of New Orleans. Visit her website at www.coleensalley.com.

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    Reviews for Epossumondas

    3.5/5

    53 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5

      Oct 18, 2024

      One of my favorite noodlehead stories, adapted slightly for these special characters.
      Fantastic author's note that I highly recommend to all of my friends who read children's books or folktales.
      I will read the rest of the series.
      (Most of you probably will recognize most of what she explains in the note, but she adds details I hadn't put together yet and successfully writes a scholarly note that young children can understand & appreciate.)
    • 5/5

      Jul 11, 2014

      Summary:
      This story is about Epossumondas who always goes to see his aunt who is always sending him home with something. Once he would get home his momma would tell him "Epossumondas you dont have the sense you were born with". His momma would try to tell him the right way to carry his items. Everyday on his way home Epossumondas would walk past a friendly animal. All the animals would tell him it didnt look like what he said he was carring. By the time he would get back home he would only have a little bit left of what his aunt gave him, and it would be all messed up. Finally his momma tells him she's going to see his aunt and he can not go anymore. She told him that she had pies on porch and he needs to be careful about stepping on them. Well Epossumondas was careful, by stepping in the middle of all the pies!

      Personal Experience:
      My personal experience relating to this book is again with my children. My kids are always trying to carry stuff around ending up messing whatever it is up. Im always trying to tell them a better way of holding, carrying, handling something. I end up doing it myself in the end. If I tell them something it seems like they always misinterpret what I say to them.

      Classroom Extensions:
      1. I could have my students give an example of the right way that Epossumondas should have handled what his aunt gave him.
      2. If I was reading this to my students I could have them come up with different items that his aunt could give him to take home to his momma.
    • 3/5

      Apr 13, 2013

      Epossumondas is determinedly literal in this humorous picture-book from New Orleans storyteller Coleen Salley, the first of four such stories - subsequent titles include: Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail, Epossumondas Saves the Day and Epossumondas Plays Possum - to chronicle his (mis)adventures. Continually bringing home presents from his auntie's house, the didelphine hero (or should that be trickster?) of this tale follows his mama's instructions to the letter, but as said instructions are always delivered after the fact, and applied the next time around, they never quite work out, resulting in myriad disasters, from crumbled cake to melted butter...

      When I see the name "Epaminondas," I think of the Theban general who brought down the Spartans (what can I say? I'm a student of classical antiquity), so I was surprised to discover, from Salley's afterword, that there is a folk-hero with this same name, from the southern tradition. I was even more surprised to discover, from my own research online, that this "noodlehead" figure - a folkloric character-type that gets caught in humorous misunderstandings (think the Jewish Fools of Chelm or the English Men of Gotham) - has featured in a series of children's stories, beginning with Sarah Cone Bryant's 1907 Epaminondas and His Auntie, that have been criticized as being egregiously racist. Somehow, although being very familiar with the controversy surrounding The Story of Little Black Sambo, I had been unaware of this similarly problematic tale.

      What isn't clear to me, either from Salley's note, or from my reading elsewhere, is whether Bryant was the first to write a story featuring this character, and whether she took him from the African-American folk tradition (as Joel Chandler Harris did, with his tales of Uncle Remus). In any case, given the troubling history of this character (apparently Fannie Lou Hamer herself once criticized the inclusion of the Epaminondas figure in books for young African-American students), I can see why Salley chose to change him from a boy to an opossum. The story itself, in this form, is amusing, and will entertain young readers who enjoy tales of literalistic misdirection, ala Amelia Bedelia or Mole And Shrew.
    • 2/5

      Mar 9, 2013

      This book was alright. Epoddumondas reminds me of the Amelia Bedelia. I don't know that I read it aloud to my class but if I ran across it at Goodwill I would buy it for my classroom library.
    • 2/5

      Oct 10, 2012

      Did not really like this book but I understand how it might be used to discuss elements of story telling. It also has some interesting vocabulary.
    • 3/5

      Sep 26, 2012

      I thought this book was silly and kids probably would enjoy it, which is why I gave it a three. But, I don't know if I would read it to my students because I think that the advice that the lady is giving Epossumondas is not good advice and it's setting him up for failure every time.
    • 5/5

      Jul 9, 2012

      Knowing that Ms. Salley was a fabulous storyteller, I read this book expecting entertainment. She truly lived up to my expectations. Epossumondas is her own twist on a southern noodlehead tale of Epaminondas, a character who takes words literally. Epossumondas ruins quite a few things with his lack of understanding, but he still remains his mother's "sweet little patootie". My favorite line throughout the story was "you don't have the sense you were born with". This was a delightful read!
    • 4/5

      Dec 18, 2011

      Epossumondas is his mama's and his auntie's sweet little patootie, but sometimes he gets a little mixed up. Every time he visits his auntie, she gives him something to take home, but Epossumondas just can't seem to get his presents home in one piece. It's not his fault really, he's just following his mama's directions.
      The illustrations in this sweet retelling of a southern folktale are the high point. The auntie and mama characters are just what readers would imagine an old southern lady would look like, and Empossumondas, in his little safety pinned diaper, is part child and animal. The story itself is rather silly, but gives readers, especially those between the ages of 4 and 6, the opportunity to learn how to decipher meaning and they'll laugh at the ridiculous situations along the way.
    • 4/5

      Sep 24, 2011

      "Epossumondas" is a noodlehead, folktale that helps children see the funny humor in taking things literally. Throughout the entire book, Epossumondas' mother tries to explain to him the "right way" to bring home the things his auntie gives him for his mother. What the mother does not realize is that Epossumondas takes everything she says literally. At the end of the story, she tells him that she will go get the things from his auntie, and for him to step carefully watching the pies. Epossumondas makes sure he steps in the center of every pie carefully. This is fun and relatable for young children because sometimes they do not understand what people tell them. Sometimes they do not understand the meanings of words, like "take it and run with it," for example, and take the meaning literally. This book can also relate to mothers. Mothers can understand, through reading this book, with their child that they must not get frustrated when children do not understand what is being said. Reading your child this fun and light hearted tale of a possum who genuinely means well, can help your child (and yourself) to understand that sometimes all words are not meant to be taken literal, and that it is important to acknowledge the misunderstanding and take time out to explain things.
    • 5/5

      Jun 27, 2011

      This delightful tale is just as fun to act out and recite from memory as it is to read it and giggle with the illustrations. Famed New Orleanian storyteller Colleen Salley puts a spin on the southern folktale and makes it her own. The characters speak in local lingo and are humorous in a believable way. Young Epossumondas will remind all readers of a goofy brother, friend, or cousin who just couldn't quite follow directions no matter how hard he tried. A true New Orleans/Louisiana classic.
    • 4/5

      Sep 7, 2010

      My great aunt Jessie told me this story when I was young. She would trail her fingers along my face and ears to mimic butter melting down my head. The story was always told and never read. I didn't find a print copy of the story until I was an adult. I'm glad this picture book is available for another generation of kids.
    • 4/5

      Feb 13, 2009

      This is a good example of a folktale because it’s about a young possum who continually takes him mother direction to literally showing in a funny way why that is a problem.
      Media: water color and colored pencil
    • 5/5

      Nov 21, 2006

      My mother's favorite children's book was Epanynomous. Later, people cried racism because the story was about a dumb little black boy. I started telling it as a Jack tale to preserve the plot.

      Coleen Salley and Janet Stevens rescue this hilarious tale by creating Epossumondas instead.

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    Epossumondas - Coleen Salley

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