I heard a discussion about this on NPR yesterday. I never read the story growing up, but an artist named Christopher Bing is re-illustrating it. He talked about it being one of his favorite stories growing up, but the program also talked about the racial stigma attached to the book. It aparantly one of the top 'challenged' books in the nation.
Here's a link to the NPR stuff on it: www.npr.org/display_page..._1567555.html
What do you all think? It sounds like an neat tale, but I can see that events in history have made it a sore subject.
Here's a link to the NPR stuff on it: www.npr.org/display_page..._1567555.html
What do you all think? It sounds like an neat tale, but I can see that events in history have made it a sore subject.
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Re: Little Black Sambo
Wed, January 14, 2004 - 6:14 AMi think you can't shy away from sensitive topics. the earlier kids start dealing with them the better.
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Unsu...
Re: Little Black Sambo
Sat, October 30, 2004 - 3:27 PMI think that people also fail to look at the book itself in the correct historical context. It was written by Helen Bannerman in 1899, during the British imperial rule of India. It is a *story* set in *India*.
Certainly, British imperialist attitudes are evident in the text and original illustrations. Again, though, I would argue that it is a product of its time and place and was never intended to be used as a racist tool against African Americans.
This is an interesting article relating to the book and its historical context:
childrensbooks.about.com/gi/dy...te.htm
It's a great story, but I think the controversy surrounding it has been carried on a bit too long. -
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Re: Little Black Sambo
Mon, November 8, 2004 - 7:50 PMThere used to be a restaurant chain called Sambos- kind of a Denny's or IHOP with pictures from the books painted on the walls- I think they closed in Ca in the late 70's- I don't know if they are any where else in the country.
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