Epossumondas Plays Possum [Hardcover]

Coleen Salley (Author), Janet Stevens (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
Epossumondas is the silliest, most lovable possum south of the Mason-Dixon line. In his fourth book, will he still be his mama's sweet little patootie if he heads into the swamp, just where Mama told him not to go? After all, the swamp is home to the fearsome and legendary loup-garou! Epossumondas isn't a naughty possum, but he sure is forgetful, and into the swamp he goes. There he meets all manner of scary creatures--but are any of them the loup-garou? And will he ever make it home to Mama? Maybe he will, as long as he remembers to do what possums do best: play possum.

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A Look Inside Epossumondas Plays Possum
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Epossumondas is lost	Epossumondas plays possum

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From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 4—In this series, a diapered possum child with a human mama reenacts Southern folktales with flair and gusto. Here, Mama warns the little guy to stay out of the swamp, where the scary loup-garou awaits. Distracted by a pretty butterfly, Epossumondas enters the swamp anyway. He never meets the werewolf, but he encounters one dangerous predator after another. Luckily, instinct kicks in and he plays possum, thus being rejected by creatures who "don't eat no dead meat." When a carcass-eating buzzard comes along, Epossumondas is saved by his own ticklishness—the horrified bird drops him, crying "I never, ever eat no live meat!" The folksy text lives and breathes like a storytelling performance. Epossumondas and his mama have so much character that this unlikely family is quite believable. The sketchy, mixed-media illustrations convey the humor of the antics while providing a fairly realistic depiction of Louisiana swampland and its inhabitants. As always, Stevens has portrayed Epossumondas's mama as a Salley double, bringing the storyteller into her own tale. Funny, scary, and clever, this story has everything it needs for broad kid appeal.—Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL END

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books (October 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152064206
• ISBN-13: 978-0152064204
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 10.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Coleen Salley built a worldwide reputation as a storyteller, children's literature expert, and raconteur. She enthralled parents and their children with her heart-stirring and exuberant renditions of favorite books and stories. Professor Emerita Coleen Salley taught children's literature and storytelling for thirty years at the University of New Orleans, and was a visiting professor at Simmons College in Boston, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, the University of Denver, George Peabody College in Nashville, and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She made hundreds of professional presentations and appearances at more than twenty national conferences, including sessions with the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the American Booksellers Association.

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ms. Salley grew up hearing the old tale "Epaminondas," which became her trademark story. Her new adaptation appeared in print for the first time as Epossumondas (Harcourt, 2002). Winner of several awards for distinguished professional accomplishments, Coleen spent much of her life in the French Quarter in New Orleans--where she was known as Queen Coleen, a colorful character of Mardi Gras.

Ms. Salley and award-winning illustrator Janet Stevens were friends for many years. Ms. Stevens used Ms. Salley as the model for the intrepid grocery shopper in To Market, To Market, written by Anne Miranda. Ms. Salley's likeness also graces the pages of all four books featuring Epossumondas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This story is resplendently illustrated and the tale is hysterically fun! Rrrrrrrrrr! Ssssss! Snort!, November 21, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Epossumondas Plays Possum (Hardcover)

Mama and Epossumondas sat on the porch "sipping sweet tea and chitchatting about this and that." Mama was all smiles and looked very lovely with her flowery dress, her lavender glasses and trademark yellow hat with the fake rose on it. Epossumondas, who had on a clean diaper with blue pins in it, was asking his mama why he couldn't go into the swamp when a butterfly could. Mama lovingly looked at him and said, "Land sakes, sugar pie, the swamp is scary and dangerous!" It was no place for little possums and she made it perfectly clear that the loup-garou might just get him. It had a nasty hiss, a LOUD snort and "big ugly claws." Nope, the swamp was no place for him.

Mama slipped inside to fix lunch and Epossumondas was so absorbed in following a pretty blue butterfly he forgot all about her warnings. It wasn't that he was inclined to disobey her, it was simply that he was just a "forgetful possum" and "plumb forgot all about the loup-garou." He chased that butterfly this way and a that a way and soon found himself lost in the swamp. He came up against a snarling critter, a nasty old hissing critter and a snorting one, but he had enough sense to flop down, "eyes shut, perfectly still -- just like a good possum should." Rrrrrrrrrr! Ssssss! Snort! Fortunately they all claimed, "I don't eat no dead meat." Was Epossumondas going to be eaten by the loup-garou before his mama found him?

Of course Mama just happens to look a lot like the magnanimous Coleen Salley herself, a fact that would be the ultimate form of flattery for anyone. This story is resplendently illustrated and the tale is hysterically fun. I loved it when Epossumondas's little toes went up in the air and he plopped himself on his back. If you have a little, forgetful Epossumondas in your house who never really listens to what you have to say, he or she might learn a lesson from a little possum who didn't listen to his mama!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oh, miss salley!, November 9, 2009

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growinemgreen (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Epossumondas Plays Possum (Hardcover)

we have a little warm spot in our hearts for miss salley and epossumondas. our now 5 year old fell in love with them when she was 2. we have all of miss salley's books and they're well warn and well loved. this book is easy for parents to read and doesn't seem to ever get old. it's in regular rotation for bedtime stories. i cannot say enough good things about all of miss salley's books!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mrs. Salley Saved the Best for Last, October 19, 2009

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K. Walk - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Epossumondas Plays Possum (Hardcover)

The late, great Coleen Salley saved her very best Epossimondas book for last. Janet Stevens' characters are large and endearing as always and Salley's prose is liltingly beautiful.