Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail
This new book by Coleen Salley is a sequel to the very popular "Epossumondas" which introduced the cuddly Cajun opossum and his mama. While the first book is very original and entertaining, I liked this one even more for its easy readability and tall tale quality. The illustrations by Janet Stevens, who drew the wonderful characters for such great books as "Cook-A-Doodle-Doo!" and "To Market, To Market," are both hilarious and touching.
In "Why Epossumondas Has No Hair on His Tail," Epossumondas begins to examine other animals' tails and comes to the conclusion that his is not up to par. His mama, a grandmotherly human in a red flowered dress and spiffy hat, assures him that there's a good reason for his skinny, naked, furless tail, and she'll tell him why if he wants to listen.
It seems that Epossumondas's great-great-grandfather got into some trouble long ago when he decided to raid a bear's persimmon patch with his buddy, the hare. But when the grandfather won't share with the hare, and the bear finds out, well, the opossum's cute puffy tail is history. In the end, the grandfather finds new and wonderful uses for his funny-looking tail, and so it has never changed. Epossumondas listens to the tale, feels better about himself, and snuggles his mama close.
As much as I hate opossums, this book with its tall tale, conversational tone and the soft yet expressive artwork made me love Epossumondas more than the first book did. It seemed much more readable, perhaps because the main character's difficult name is not repeated so often, and the story has a subtle moral about liking oneself and the danger of not sharing. The last illustration of Epossumondas hugging his mama also made me melt into the couch for a good snuggle with my own little opossum.
