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!

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.