[ 책 소개 ]

* Irma S. and James H. Black Honor for Excellence in Children's Literature Award 수상작


주머니 쥐인 포섬은 어머니와 이모에게 사랑을 받으면서 살고 있습니다만, 문제는 언제나 말을 곧이 곧대로 듣고 그대로 행동한다는 점입니다.

이모가 준 케익을 손에 너무 힘을 주고서 꼭 쥐고 집에 가져오다보니 손에는 케익부스러기만 남았습니다. 엄마는 케익을 가져올 때는 머리에 얹고 모자를 쓴 후 집으로 가져와야 한다고 가르쳐 주었지요.

다음날 이모는 버터 한 덩어리를 주자, 엄마가 가르쳐 준대로 버터를 머리에 얹고 모자를 쓰고 집으로 가져오다 그만 다 녹아서 온 몸이 버터 범벅이 되었습니다. 엄마는 버터를 가져올 때는 나뭇잎에 싸서 손에 들고 오다가 개울을 만나면 물 속에 담가서 차게 해줘야 한다고 말했지요.

다음에는 이모가 개 한마리를 주자 포섬은 개를 나뭇잎으로 대충 싼 후 끙끙거리며 손으로 들고 오다가 개울을 만나자 개를 물 속에 넣고 흔들었지요. 물에 흠뻑 젖은 개를 보자 엄마는 개끈을 묶고 끌고 와야 한다고 가르쳐 줍니다.

다음에 이모는 빵 한 덩어리를 주자 포섬은 빵을 끈으로 묶고는 땅에 질질 끌고 옵니다.

결국 엄마는 포섬에게 이모집에 가지 말라고 하면서 자기가 대신 갔다 오겠다고 합니다. 그리고 집을 나서기 전에 식히고 있는 파이들을 밟지 않도록 조심하라고 당부했는데, 포섬을 이를 조심해서 밟으라고 잘못 알아듣고는...

Caldecott 수상작가인 Janet Stevens의 유쾌한 그림이 읽는 재미를 더해 줍니다.






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Edition : Paperback, 40 pages
ISBN-10: 0544809068
ISBN-13: 9780544809062
책 크기 : 26.6 cm x 25.3 cm



[ 영문 서평 ]

Book Description
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?)


Book Magazine
In this entertaining tale, Epossumondas, an ever cheerful possum clad in diapers, is his human mama's and auntie's "sweet little patootie." His doting auntie gives Epossumondas a series of gifts to take home, starting with a piece of cake, which he squishes. His mama explains that he should carry cake under his hat, so that's what he does when his aunt gives him butter. Each present leads to another silly misunderstanding that will have children laughing, pleased to know better than the main character.


Publishers Weekly
Foolish Jack is cast here as a pampered, over-mothered Louisiana possum in a refreshingly retold version by New Orleans storyteller Salley (Who's That Trippin' over My Bridge?). This familiar story takes on new silliness as the improbable possum-child interacts with his human mother. And what a mother (fans of Stevens's To Market, to Market will recognize her as the same model)! Stevens, in wickedly observant pencil and watercolor illustrations, characterizes the doting matriarch and her sister as matronly, doughy-cheeked ladies in cat-eye glasses and flowery dresses circa 1952. When the aunt sends cake home with Epossumondas, he scrunches it in his hand and ruins it. His mother chides him, "Oh, Epossumondas, you don't have the sense you were born with!" and advises him next time to carry cake on his head. When his auntie gives him butter, he unthinkingly follows his mother's advice regarding cake transport. "What you got, Epossumondas?" a raccoon asks, as the butter streams down the possum's face. "Butter," he replied. "Hmm. Don't look much like butter to me," Raccoon says drily. Salley narrates the series of mishaps with a storyteller's impeccable timing and a pleasing Southern patois that should inspire many spirited read-alouds. A note at book's end gives an overview of the tale's many incarnations all over the world.


School Library Journal
As explained in a "storyteller's note," this selection is the author's own variant of a classic "noodlehead" tale. Epossumondas is a young opossum who, like Lazy Jack, can never get anything right and transfers the advice that his human mother gives him from one situation to another, with hilarious results. When he carries butter in his hat because that's how she told him to carry cake, Mama explains that he should have wrapped it in leaves and cooled it in the brook. He tries that method on a "sweet little puppy," without much success. All of the elements of a good story are here: the establishment of the character and his shortcomings; the same mistake being made over and over; children's anticipation of what the character will do next; and the punch-line ending. Salley's text rolls off the page (and off the tongue) easily, and is accompanied by delightful watercolor and colored-pencil art that portrays a woeful, diapered Epossumondas and his big round Mama, complete with flowered dress, big red shoes, and purple-framed glasses. A fun storytime choice.


Kirkus Reviews
Variations of Epaminondas or Foolish Jack have had the noodlehead misconstruing his mama's advice for years, from black face and black dialect to more comic renditions, but this version hangs by a tail-and a possum's tail no less. "Epossumondas was his mama's and his auntie's sweet little patootie. They just loved him to death." But he proves he doesn't have the sense he was born with when he mangles and muddles his Mama's instructions as he carries home daily the items his Auntie gives him-crumbling the cake, melting the butter, nearly drowning the puppy, and battering the bread. His encounters with Alligator, Raccoon, Nutria, and Armadillo will have kids giggling out loud as they foresee what comes next, especially with Mama's final caution: "Be careful about stepping on those pies." In "A Storyteller's Note," Salley (a professional storyteller) cites the origin and reworking of this story, which is her signature tale. Those who know her will hear her voice as they read, but it is the lively, outsized illustrations that spark the story to its full exaggeration, painting the effusive Salley herself as Mama. The watercolor and color-pencil illustrations with photographic and digital elements play the silliness to the hilt with Mama at center stage in purple glasses, yellow hat with red rose, red shoes, and floral-print dress. Handsomely designed, the quality paper, pie-filled endpapers and large size add just the right pizzazz. Shaggy-haired, diaper-clad Epossumondas becomes a new name for a classic character with a wry, southern twist, and no misunderstanding-it's outrageous fun!