CHILDRENS BOOK ABOUT A LITTLE BOY NAMED PAMBINOMBUS

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 02 Nov 2004 08:55 PST

Are you certain of the boy's name? Is there anything else you can tell
us about the book? Any other characters, what the story is about, etc?

Rainbow~

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Clarification of Question by pambinombus-ga on 02 Nov 2004 09:23 PST

I am not sure of the name spelling, however the story is about a
little boy who always does everything backwards in regards to his
mothers instructions for going to the market to buy butter, bread,
etc.

Hello.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you're thinking of "Epaminondas."

"Epaminondas and his Auntie" 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

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&mtype=&qtit=%22Noodlehead%20Epaminondas%2E%22&S=R&bid=8137061775&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.ahttp://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=rlibris.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

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search strategy:
Epaminondas

I hope "Epaminondas" is the character whom you had in mind. If not,
please let me know via the "request clarification" feature.

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 02 Nov 2004 09:31 PST

One of those Alibris links should have been:
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=rlibris.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

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Request for Answer Clarification by pambinombus-ga on 02 Nov 2004 09:41 PST

YOU ARE WONDERFUL, AS A SMALL BOY (RAISED BY MY GRANDMPOTHER)MY
GRANDMOTHER WOULD ALWAYS TELL MYSELF AND MY BROTHER THE STORY OF
EPAMININDAS. THANKS EVER SO MUCH, I HAVE SEARCHED FOR THIS BOOK EVER
SINCE MY GRANDMOTHERS PASSING IN 2001

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Clarification of Answer by juggler-ga on 02 Nov 2004 09:56 PST

Great! I'm glad to have helped.

http://search.ebay.ca/Epaminondas_W0QQsojsZ1QQfromZR40

"Epaminondas, you ain't got the sense you were born with!"

Where's the one where he gets sent to the store to buy something and
brings it home in a strange way, and "she"--mother?
grandmother?--says, "Epaminondas, you ain't got the sense you were
born with!  You should have..." [put it in your pocket, tied a string
to it and led it home, put it under your hat...].  Each time he runs
an errand, he does what he was told to do with the *last* thing, which
of course is exactly wrong for the next situation.  So he comes home
with a pound of butter that melted under his hat, and a live fish died
in his pocket, and he leads a leg of lamb home on a string until the
dogs eat it up, and so on.  He applies the wrong rule to each
situation.

I heard this story read aloud by my teacher probably just once, as a
first grader, half a century ago, and I still remember it.  But I did
not see that story on the list.  Is there an edition old enough to be
the one I heard in about 1953?

Not that this was my question.  Hitching a free ride on yours,
pambinombus!  But it sounds like you might be remembering the same
story that I am.

Archae0pteryx

Tryx,

I believe the one you're remembering is the original story,
"Epaminondas and his Auntie." I loved this story dearly when I was a
preschooler.

http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/bryant18.htm

The very one!  Wow!  Thanks, Pink.  I see that I misremembered some
particulars, but I'd say it wasn't too bad.  These days, when it takes
me four trips from the kitchen to the hall closet to bring back one
box of tea because the first three times I forgot what I went for,
it's nice to have that assurance that some parts of my memory still
work.

Tryx