There is a story of a little black boy who runs errands for his mohter
and always gets them mixed up.  The ending is that he be careful how
he steps in the pies and he very carefully stepped in each pie.  His
name is something like Epomonandes.  I would like to locate a source for this story.

Hello.

The story that you're looking for is "Epaminondas and His Auntie" by
Sara Cone Bryant or some version of it.

See this description from the newsgroup rec.arts.books.childrens,
1999/08/06,

"Interesting, this is almost certainly a retelling of EPAMINONDAS AND
HIS AUNTIE which was retold by Sara Cone Bryant in its most famous
version.  In it, the main character is a boy who does exactly what he
is told to do without regard to the specifics of the situation.  The
story receives criticism for the strong use of dialect.

	"Epaminondas, you ain't got the sense you was bo'n wi'"

was a common refrain after each episode.  At the end of the story, his
mother (aunt?) tells him to

	'be careful how you step in those pies'

which are cooling on the porch and the story relates to how he
carefully
steps in the middle of each one."
Archived by Google Groups:
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=37ABA140.DBA4EAB9%40adnc.com&output=gplain

Bryant's book was originally published in the 1930s, see excerpts from
it on Sterlingtimes.org:
http://www.sterlingtimes.org/epaminondas.htm

Order Bryant's book from Barnes and Noble:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?ISBN=089966556X

Order a vintage copy from Abebooks:
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/abe/BookDetails?bi=172106966

There was a retelling of the story published in 1968. That version was
written by Eve Merriam. That book is out-of-print and very expensive.
See the listing on Alibris:
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=2088298&matches=14&qsort=r

In 1970, Merriam published a second version of the story called "That
Noodlehead Epaminondas." See this listing from Alibris:
http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?chunk=25&qauth=merriam&qtit=noodlehead&S=R&bid=8100670751&pqtynew=&page=1&matches=1&qsort=r

In 1959-60, Constance Egan wrote a series of books based on the
Epaminondas character. Those books are also out-of-print and very
expensive. See these listings from Alibris:
"Epaminondas and the eggs" 
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=2088301&ptit=Epaminondas%20and%20the%20eggs&pauth=Egan%2C%20Constance&pisbn=&pbest=57%2E95&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=3&pqtynew=0&matches=3&qsort=r
"Epaminondas and the lettuces"
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=2088302&ptit=Epaminondas%20and%20the%20lettuces&pauth=Egan%2C%20Constance&pisbn=&pbest=89%2E95&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=2&pqtynew=0&matches=2&qsort=r
"Epaminondas and his mammy's umbrella "
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=2088300&ptit=Epaminondas%20and%20his%20mammy%27s%20umbrella&pauth=Egan%2C%20Constance&pisbn=&pbest=41%2E36&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=1&pqtynew=0&matches=1&qsort=r
"Epaminondas helps in the garden"
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=2088304&ptit=Epaminondas%20helps%20in%20the%20garden&pauth=Egan%2C%20Constance&pisbn=&pbest=57%2E95&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=1&pqtynew=0&matches=1&qsort=r
"Epaminondas tries to be brave "
http://www.alibris.com/search/search.cfm?qwork=2088307&ptit=Epaminondas%20tries%20to%20be%20brave&pauth=Egan%2C%20Constance&pisbn=&pbest=89%2E95&pbestnew=1000000%2E00&pqty=1&pqtynew=0&matches=1&qsort=r


search strategy: rec.arts.books.childrens, boy, pies, step, story

I hope this helps.

Hi,

For comparison book shopping, try here:

http://www.bookfinder.com

Some more used books search sites:

<http://www.tomfolio.com>  
<http://www.zshops.com> 
<http://www.bibliophile.net>
<http://www.bookavenue.com>

Best,
hummer