Bannerman, H. (1918). The
story of Little Black Sambo. (Illus. Florence White Williams). Akron, OH.: Saalfield
Publishing Company.
Reading Level: 510L
Interest Level: Grades K - 2
After reading an interview with Jerry Pinkney where he names this his favorite book during his childhood, I was curious about this picture book, since I’d actually never heard of it before. This just proves my cultural and historical ignorance, though, since this late 19th century children’s book was so influential it spawned both altered word usage and fast food restaurant chains. I found a public domain copy at Project Gutenburg, and read it. What struck me immediately was how offensive Florence White Williams’ illustrations were. The “darky iconography” is on full display in this edition: all the characters have inky, contrastless skin, exaggerated lips and oversized, superwhite teeth. The mother seems like a turn of the century “mammy” character, which makes no sense given the tigers in close proximity – there are not a lot of jungle animals in the Deep South. The story itself is in traditional cumulative tale format: Sambo encounters four threatening tigers ("Little Black Sambo, I'm going to eat you up!”) who each accept a piece of his clothing in lieu of eating Sambo. The dressed, vain tigers (“Now I’m the grandest tiger in the jungle”) fight, chasing each other around a tree so fast they turn into butter, allowing Sambo to retrieve his clothing. The story itself isn’t offensive (aside, of course, from the term “Sambo”); in the interview Pinkney explains that he loved this story because Sambo is a hero figure. In an effort to revise it for modern audiences, in 2004, another version was released under the title “The Boy and the Tigers," and the title character was called Rajan. Other versions include "The Story of Little Babaji," and Pinkney's own “Sam and the Tiger: a Retelling of Little Black Sambo.”
Read more about this book:
About "Pinkaninny"
About the "Sambo's" restaurant controversy
