Little Black Sambo – Little Black Sambo Exhibit

Platt & Munk’s 1972 reprint of an earlier version, still featuring art by Eulalie

The title page of this reprinted version

The largest change in this reprinted edition is the changing of Mumbo’s and Jumbo’s names to Mama Sari and Papa Simbu

Source

University of Florida’s Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature

Baldwin Call #23h23180

Description

This reprinted edition mostly retains Bannerman’s original text, but it renames the parents as “Mama Sari” and “Papa Simbu,” two distinctly Orientalized monikers. However, these new names are the only gesture towards a potentially Indian ethnicity for the family. Confusingly, illustrator Eulalie portrays the characters as distinctly African American. For instance, she represents Little Black Sambo’s mother as an obese, headscarved Mammy caricature, while the boy wears overalls in one illustration. This strange blending of Indian names and African American representations may be a half-hearted editorial attempt to update Little Black Sambo for a post-Civil Rights Movement audience.

Creator

Helen Bannerman

Contributor(s)

Illustrated by Eulalie

Publisher

Platt & Munk

Publication Date

1972

Format

Unpaged; mixture of color and black and white illustrations; 21 cm.

Language

English