The Story of Little Black Sambo

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Summary: Little Black Sambo
Review: This is a book that I read when I was younger and I now read today. I feel that this is a good story to read to children because it teaches you about patience with animals and courage. I know I can't wait to read an updated version so it is not racist. I am not racist myself but I feel that the book is kind of racist.

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Summary: A seminal image of understanding American racism.
Review: This book has been the source of contextualizing American racism. Even though the book does not deal with the African American, the character's names Sambo, Mumbo, and Jumbo are certainly not Indian but Jamaican.

I heard about this book originally from a rap CD Mr. Hood by the group KMD where the words "Little Black Sambo" were scratched in with other images of Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. The rap group suggests that racism notions begin in innocence and progress eventually to stereotypical behavior. However, it points out that African Americans stereotype whites and pokes fun of that using Mr. Hood as the prototypical white businessman who is outwitted by the group members. By using Mr. Hood as a contrast to Black Sambo and the orange colored Ernie and Bert, KMD shows that racism by both white and blacks can be detrimental.

I think that this child's book is important as a part of American memorabilia and for understanding the history of racial stereotypical. Whether or not people believe the racism of Bannermann's book, Little Black Sambo is always an essential book to read by both children and adults.

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Summary: LET'S NEVER LOSE THE CLASSICS
Review: The story of little black Sambo is truly a classic from all who remember it from our childhood.Helen Bannerman wrote this story for her two little children while traveling with them by train across India. If people would LOOK AT THE ILLUSTRATIONS they would see that Sambo is a little Indian boy from India, continents away from America and the Cival war and or South. I ran 2 independant bookstores some 12 to 14 years ago and when I finally found THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO in print again I'd order maybe 60 copies a week and could not keep this wonderful little storybook in stock. Almost every buyer were grandparents who could not wait to introduce their grandchildren to a book we all knew and loved. It is a must have for all collectors of wonderful literature!

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Summary: Great little story!
Review: Digging through an old box, I found my tiny, tattered little book of Little Black Sambo, which is very old as it was my dad's before mine! I LOVED this book as a child, I am 30 now, and can't wait to share it with my own children. I remember just staring at the brilliantly colored illustrations and being entranced by the whole story line---even a little scared at the tigers! I really did wonder if tigers running in circles could make butter and I even think I asked my dad if it was real!

I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised to see that you can still purchase this book, although in the original format I have no idea. It is too bad that libraries would think to ban a book like this----I am a "white" person who is totally colorblind and I have to say that reading and loving Little Black Sambo as a child never made me want to be racist or gave me racist thoughts. It is a work of fiction, and even as a child I knew that it was just a story.

Anyways--this is a great read for grownups and for reading to little ones--and it is a good thing, I guess, that you can also purchase a politically correct version to share with children of any color also--because the story line is the fun part of the book.

KT

Rating:
Summary: Little Black Sambo
Review: A wonderful childhood book to read again even now at age 52.

The pictures of the tigers, bright clothing and how to make butter are still fresh in my mind from that story. I ran around that tree with that little boy, time and time again and I am glad that we are able to have this book available to share with our children and grandchildren.

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Summary: Good story.
Review: I didn't know "Sambo" was a racist term until recently. I learned that Sambo, mustee and mustafa are all racist terms that were popular in the days of the Civil War and in the postbellum years to identify people by how much black ancestry they had. I like the story, but I wish the race and the color of the child and the child's parents were omitted.

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Summary: I DON'T LIKE THE NAME!
Review: When I was a very little girl, beautiful Falcons flew with Thunderbirds and roamed the road with Mustangs, Galaxies and cool Fairlanes. Zenith and RCA were the top names in television and Ford had better ideas. It was an era that predated being politically correct and I remember this story vividly. I remember when I was 3 years old being offended by the title. My exact words were, "If he was anything but black, he wouldn't be called Black Sambo." I remember I found the part about the tigers melting scary. Although I marveled at Sambo's resourcefulness, I didn't like the part about the animals melting. I found that upsetting.

Folks, maybe polical correctness takes a back seat to childhood memories. Here is a memory that is conveniently overlooked. Sambo is a racist term that is used towards persons with one black parent. It is a racist term that is the one bad thing about an otherwise good story. I don't mean to knock anybody's childhood memories, but I just had trouble with the title and the names of the central characters.

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Summary: Sanity reigns over "political correctness"
Review: Wonderful children's book and one I've heard and read over and over when I was young - glad it's back in print.

As a child I marveled at Sambo's ingeniousness in outsmarting the tigers and, in fact, maybe even being smarter than some adults. It never occurred to me that the parents names might be derogatory, if anything the names sounded exotic: Black Jumbo and Black Mumbo. Children are innocent and see things in a clean, clear manner. Whatever is considered "bad" in this book is the manufacture of over-sensitive adults.

This is a great classic and belongs in every library along with Grimm's Fairy Tales and Aesop Fables. One can revisit the magic of childhood through "Little Black Sambo".

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Summary: Thoughts on Little Black Sambo
Review: I am 42 and I have a son that is 16, When he was 3 I went to Hannibal,Mo for a visit and I bought the book Little BLack Sambo because I hadn't seen it in years. I can remember my parents reading it to me when I was young and I loved it and still do. I read it to my son on the way home and all he could say was read it again please. He is 16 and stills likes for me to read it to him like I did when he was 3.

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Summary: It takes me back to the early 40's.thrilled to have a copy
Review: Searching thru old book stores in Halifax,I thought to ask if Little Black Sambo was ever in stock. They had one that came in 48 hours ago and I couldn't believe my luck. My copy seems older than your dates for Wee Book For Wee Folks. I bought it in l999. Pub.Altemus Wee Book Series . There is no year of publication so I can't tell. It's not the value so much as the true age of this particular little gem . I always had it read to me before we ate pancakes and it was very exciting for a 4 year old. As an adult I can understand a mothers joy in creating and illustrating stories for her children. The "Are we there yet"? syndrome obviously existed 100 years ago. What happened to the two daughters Any ideas?