Source
University of Florida’s Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature
Baldwin Call #
Baldwin Call #39h11967
Description
Set in the fictional land of Sam-sam-sa-mara, this adaptation attempts to reclaim and restore The Story of L ittle Black Sambo for a contemporary audience. Creators Lester and Pinkney rename all of the human characters as “Sam” and positively represent them as non-caricatured African Americans. The paratext features an author’s note from Lester detailing the book’s controversial history and defending his decision to remediate the text.
This adaptation retains some problematic aspects, such as the reductive branding of all of the humans as “Sam” and young Sam’s use of slang, which makes him appear more uneducated than “folksy.” Despite these minor flaws, however, this celebrated version remains one of the few positive re-imaginings of Bannerman’s text.
Creator
Written by Julius Lester
Contributor(s)
Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
Publisher
Penguin Group
Publication Date
1996
Format
40 pages; 10 x 10.5 x 0.2 inches
Language
English