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This is an adaptation from
the ORIGINAL Children's Story
called ' Little Black Sambo' by Helen Bannerman (circa 1899),
a Scottish woman, who lived and worked in India. It is about a little
boy
who goes into the jungle and loses his clothing to bullying tigers.
The illustrations shown, are from the original published work. (1921).
Some would have you think this is about a small African-American boy,
but the reality is it takes place in India (after all Africa/America
doesn't have any native species of Tiger and India calls their butter 'GHI"
as it is pointed out in this original story.
Unfortunately, some would want you to believe this endearing story
makes fun of others or in their words, is "racist" - it simply
isn't.
It's about a young boy, growing up in India with his two loving and
very hard working parents and the day he embarked on an
adventure in the Indian Jungle - where upon he came
across some very hungry and intimidating tigers...
This story has a relationship with both Sam and Bo as a marketing
strategy that for a long time worked very well, as across America, every
Sambo's
had murals of this classic adventure on their restaurant walls and menus
-
However, this story is NOT how Sambo's got it name.
The marketing strategy was obvious: Sam and Bo opened Sambo's,
and pancakes were one of the restaurant's specialties;
however some adults forgot that this is indeed a "CHILDREN's Story
and tried to make it something it wasn't -
While this story has charmed
generations, current publishers
have decided to avoid any sense of perceived negative connotations
by reissuing the ORIGINAL storybook with a new title: "The Story of
Little Babaji."
The boy, his mother and
father are given authentic Indian names --
Babaji, Mamaji, Dadaji -- and the illustrations are emphatically Indian.
Regardless of the version you prefer, the story is the same and
we invite you to rediscover your youth and listen to or read aloud this
uplifting tale about a boy, his family, some tigers and best of all,
pancakes...
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