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Selfish Sambo and Other Stories

 

Source

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

Baldwin Call #

Baldwin Call #39h1781

Description

Published 12 years before Helen Bannerman’s Little Black Sambo, this short book features a greedy black pony named Sambo who bullies other animals and gorges himself on apples. The narrative concludes when the pony discovers that he has eaten all of the apples. In the final line, a watching grandfather delivers a moralizing message to his grandson: “Now, Joey, you see how it looks to be selfish” (4).

Though this story’s plot and characters bear little resemblance to Little Black Sambo, there are several key similarities to Bannerman’s book: the pony’s black coat, its name, and its gluttonous consumption of food.

The front matter of the Baldwin edition features a paratextual inscription dated 1889 and made out to S. Edwin Rupert.

Creator

No author attributed

Contributor(s) 

No illustrator attributed

Publisher 

Estes and Lauriat

Publication Date

1887

Format 

Unnumbered; black and white illustrations; 27 cm

Language

English

 

Posted in Racist Periphery Children's Books