Books with title The Story of Little Black Sambo

The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman. Sambo is a South Indian boy who encounters four hungry tigers, and surrenders his colorful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella so they will not eat him. The tigers are vain and each thinks he is better dressed than the others. They chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of melted butter. Sambo then recovers his clothes and his mother makes pancakes of the butter. The story was a children's favorite for half a century until the word sambo was deemed a racial slur in some countries. The Story of Little Black Mingo is another classic by Helen Bannerman.

The jolly and exciting tale of the little boy who lost his red coat and his blue trousers and his purple shoes but who was saved from the tigers to eat 169 pancakes for his supper, has been universally loved by generations of children. First written in 1899, the story has become a childhood classic and the authorized American edition with the original drawings by the author has sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Little Black Sambo is a book that speaks the common language of all nations, and has added more to the joy of little children than perhaps any other story. They love to hear it again and again; to read it to themselves; to act it out in their play.

Unabridged, full color, original 1899 text by Helen Bannerman of a very brave boy outsmarting bullies of the world. This faithfully reproduced 1922 version has the majestic fonts, layout, and illustrations of Florence White Williams. The book is reproduced with a weathered look, to give the book a classic feel at an affordable price. It is a story has thrilled generations of children with its tense and exciting tale of victory. Controversy surrounds the book due to Bannerman's choice of names that were common for her time. This edition of Little Black Sambo preserves the same words and illustrations that are in the memories of adults who enjoyed the story as children, so that people can decide for themselves if it is a derogatory tale, or that of a champion boy. For a deeper view of the time and race relations, one can read the “Much Ado About a Name” section in the Appendix of Dr. Carter Woodson’s book The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933).

Helen Bannerman, who was born in Edinburgh in 1863, lived in India for thirty years. As a gift for her two little girls, she wrote and illustrated The Story of Little Black Sambo (1899), a story that clearly takes place in India (with its tigers and "ghi," or melted butter), even though the names she gave her characters belie that setting.For this new edition of Bannerman's much beloved tale, the little boy, his mother, and his father have all been give authentic Indian names: Babaji, Mamaji, and Papaji. And Fred Marcellino's high-spirited illustrations lovingly, memorably transform this old favorite. He gives a classic story new life.

The book has a controversial history. The original illustrations by Bannerman showed a caricatured Southern Indian or Tamil child. The story may have contributed to the use of the word "sambo" as a racial slur. The book's success led to many pirated, inexpensive, widely available versions that incorporated popular stereotypes of "black" peoples. For example, in 1908 John R. Neill, best known for his illustration of the Oz books by L. Frank Baum, illustrated an edition of Bannerman's story. In 1932 Langston Hughes criticised Little Black Sambo as a typical "pickaninny" storybook which was hurtful to black children, and gradually the book disappeared from lists of recommended stories for children.

The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and first published by Grant Richards in October 1899 as one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children. Sambo is a South Indian boy who encounters four hungry tigers, and surrenders his colourful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella so they will not eat him. The tigers are vain and each thinks he is better dressed than the others. They chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of melted butter; Sambo then recovers his clothes and his mother makes pancakes of the butter.