Little Black Sambo

More about the book

The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman. Sambo is a South Indian boy who encounters four hungry tigers, and surrenders his colorful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella so they will not eat him. The tigers are vain and each thinks he is better dressed than the others. They chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of melted butter. Sambo then recovers his clothes and his mother makes pancakes of the butter. The story was a children's favorite for half a century until the word sambo was deemed a racial slur in some countries. The Story of Little Black Mingo is another classic by Helen Bannerman.