New Releases by Coleen Salley

Forgetting his mother's warnings, Epossumondas, the opossum, goes into the swamp alone then must pretend to be dead time and again as he hears frightening sounds and fears they are being made by the dreaded loup garou.

It’s Epossumondas's birthday, so Mama's whipping up his favorite biscuits. But she's plumb out of sody sallyraytus! (That's baking soda to all you Yankees.) Everybody knows you can’t make big, fluffy biscuits without sody. One by one, Baby Gator, Auntie, and Mama scoot to the store to fetch some. But when no one comes back, it’s up to Epossumondas to run out and see what’s what--until he runs smack into a great, huge, ugly Louisiana snapping turtle!

Epossumondas has a very important question: "Mama, why don't I have hair on my tail?" And wouldn't you know it, Mama can tell him exactly why possum tails are all pink and naked and funny looking. Her story's a doozy! It goes way back to Epossumondas's great-great-grandpa, Papapossum. When hungry Papapossum and his growly ol' stomach meet up with wily Hare, cranky Bear, and a persimmon tree . . . well, it's one hair-raisin' adventure! Renowned storyteller Coleen Salley and Caldecott Honor illustrator Janet Stevens team up again, drawing on the Uncle Remus tradition and their own wild imaginations to expose a hilarious--and important!--moment in possum history.

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?)

Up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, north of Baton Rouge live three billy goats named Gruff. They want to cross Thompson's Creek to reach the lush pastures on the other side, but there's a very scary troll under the bridge who wants to gobble up those billy goats. Told in Coleen Salley's spirited style, with vibrant illustrations by Amy Jackson Dixon, this new version of the Norwegian folktale adds Louisiana spice to an old classic.