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Amazon.com Review
In the original story by Helen Bannerman, Little Black Sambo must tread carefully, lest his clothes be stolen from him by a gang of tigers. Today, it is the teller of the tale who must tread carefully, lest the forces of political correctness attack, charging racism. Because of the names she chose for her characters, the book has become a symbol of intolerance in the century since it was written. Strip away race, however, and the tale underneath is both simple and affecting. To make it more palatable to modern readers, Julius Lester has recast the tale in a "Southern black storytelling voice."
Product Description
Once upon a time there was a place called Sam-sam-sa-mara, where the animals and the people lived and worked together like they didn't know they weren't supposed to. There was a little boy in Sam-sam-sa-mara named Sam....
So begins this delightful telling of one of the most controversial books in children's literature, Little Black Sambo. Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney reveal at the heart of this story a lively and charming tale of a little boy who triumphs over several hungry tigers.
"Lester and Pinkney have stripped away the ugly racism and...reclaimed a great classic for children. [The] expansive black storytelling voice is both folksy and contemporary, funny and fearful." --Booklist
"Lester's wit...makes the story fresh and funny; Pinkney's watercolors have vitality and, in the tigers, magnificence." --The Horn Book
Awards: ( An ALA Notable Book ( An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies ( An American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"
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