Helen Bannerman (1862–1946)

This was charming, I was full of trepidation opening and waiting for a Scandalous Amount Of Racism but this book is lovely. I think the connotation of the other title of Little Black Sambo and other illustrations are probably what give this book it’s reputation. Decide for yourself, I’m giving it full marks.

I was about to re-read Pancakes for Supper! by Anne Isaacs and Mark Teague and saw that it was inspired this infamous book. Realizing I had no memory of ever reading this before, I accessed it on Internet Archive to see for myself what makes it so controversial.

And now I know. Bannerman's pictures and words are just so problematic in many ways. And ignoring everything else, the story is just dumb, with the boy bribing his way out of initial confrontations with tigers only to play no real show more role in their ultimate comeuppance.

I wonder why people feel the need to keep trying to remake and redeem this tale, but then I think about the awful stories from my childhood to which I have nostalgic attachment, and I can sort of understand the impulse, misguided though it is.

By the way, Internet Archive also has a copy of Ub Iwerk's 1935 cartoon version of the story that manages to make it even more racist. Oh my! show less

Those of us of a certain age knew this tale as Little Black Sambo, and of course it was fairly problematic in that form. For some reason Bannerman, who lived many years in India and clearly set this story in its jungle, populated the tale with black characters who did not belong there, and who were usually represented in offensively stereotypical fashion. This version replaces Sambo with Babaji, and lets the inherent charm of the story shine through. The illustrations by Fred Marcellino are show more just marvelous. show less

(Original Review, 1981-01-07)

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, anyone?

The whole notion of "tainted classics" gives me the creeps. "Tainted?" Sez who? But changing them to make them more PC is even creepier. Read on...

This is a true story, although it's hard to believe. In the 1980's I was perusing the selection on offer in the children's section of an otherwise wonderful bookstore, the kind long gone now. I was absolutely staggered to pick up a book--an actual, in-my-hand book--called "Little Gray show more Sambo." I stood there and read it: I had to make sure it wasn't a "fake" of some kind. But no. It was a re-telling of "Little Black Sambo" with the central character changed to...gray. It was beyond bizarre. Publish it or don't publish it. But...gray? Not too long after, I was in again. Same store, same section. Oscar Wilde. The Selfish Giant. The whole final bit where the giant realises the child he has longed to see is the Christ child was lopped off and a few clumsy sentences appended. Cutesy drawings and a fuzzy-focus lesson in "sharing." Censorship at work.

Children aren't stupid, and they won't turn into racists because they pick up an old classic from their grandparents' childhood shelves and read a good yarn that also includes attitudes we deplore. A lot of "boys own" or girl adventures had bucketloads of this stuff. Yet some of us marched for civil rights, are wary of what drives foreign policy, and are straight allies of LGBTQI family and friends. Remember, children are now receiving a culture (which itself will change) that has changed its attitudes. They can suss out quite a bit for themselves. Give them some credit. If the author of this piece wants to purge (deliberate usage there) her shelves, she can. If she wants to keep her kids' minds unsullied, she can. But I would be more inclined to let the old grubby-binding friends sit where they are. If my kids read them, I might ask if they noticed attitudes, and go from there.

And if we purge or avoid or hand-wringing, we lose the frames of reference and foundations for comparison. It's vital to be able to say to our children and each other, yes, this is the way it was, here are the ways in which these issues still exist, let's see how we can involve ourselves in positive ways. Elsewhere I cited Pepys, and his treatment of and attitude toward women in the 1660s - and what society right now is without the very same domestic problems? Racial issues are somewhat improved but hardly vanquished . . . we have kilometres to go yet, and the old(er) non-PC literature is one of the beacons along the way. Avoid it and we'll just continue chasing our tails instead of continuing social progress. show less