George Washington Rabbit
Barry W McDonald
children's stories and the main character was a young black child named
George Washington Rabbit.
His mother kept sending him on errands but he couldn't do them the way
she asked. He tried to bring home butter in his hat, but it melted, so
she told him that next time he should wrap the butter in paper and
string. Then on his next errand, he brought something back wrapped in
paper and string, which also wasn't right. One of the other things he
brought home was a puppy. I also seem to remember a pie.
I have no idea as to the author's name, nor the name of the collection
of stories, and it's driving me crazy. If you've heard of this story,
and know the name of the author, the story, or the collection, I'd
appreciate your E-mailing me directly or responding through the group.
Thanks!!
Lisa
James D. Keeline
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.
EPAMINONDAS was published separately with illustrations by Inez Hogan
(author-illustrator of the Nicodemus stories) and also as part of some
collections. We keep a couple of these collections in our reference
library and have a copy of the separate edition available for sale.
It is also worth noting that EPAMINONDAS has been retold several times
and the story also has roots (pardon the pun) in England and the moun-
tains of Appalachia with their own variations. One of the retellings
was published in paperback as THAT NOODLEHEAD EPAMINONDAS and it has
illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. That retelling removes most of
the dialect. There was even a version with rhebus (pictures for words)
text which took away even the clever ending. There is a Spanish edition
available, too.
It sounds like you saw a reprint trying to avoid the racial overtones.
In any version, it is a cute story which shows the literal minds of
children.
James
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Jay Rudin
> Interesting, this is almost certainly a retelling of EPAMINONDAS AND
> HIS AUNTIE which was retold by Sara Cone Bryant in its most famous
> version.
...
> 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.
...
> It sounds like you saw a reprint trying to avoid the racial overtones.
> In any version, it is a cute story which shows the literal minds of
> children.
Whatever else George Washington Rabbit's story was trying to do, it
wasn't trying to avoid the racial overtones. His aunt told him to "Mind
how you step in dem pies". I beleve it was published in the Book Trails
series.
Jay Rudin