From: MARVYPIG at aol.com <MARVYPIG>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 23:30:29 -0500

When I was 4, in 1943, I had my tonsils out, which meant a stay of several days in the hospital. Someone gave me a little book about Little Black Sambo, and I LOVED that book. I was pretty sure animals could not really melt into butter, or talk, but I loved the idea that Sambo had outwitted the tigers in their greed. Power to the kids! I made everyone who visited me read that book to me until I learned enough to "read" it to my younger siblings when I returned home. Maybe if I had not lived in a rural first generation American community it would have meant something different to me and my family. We had never seen a tiger and had never seen an African American. In some contexts a good story is just a good story. Can this be why has the story has endured so long? I think the person who bought that book for me was as naive as I was at age 4. He or she did not know it could be a source of pain for others, and just thought it was a great story of talking animals. When I saw Sam and the Tigers in the bookstore, I loved the colors and the illustrations, and the fanciful story in which everyone was Sam. I was with one of my sons, who is 25, Black, and an artist. We thought it would be great for my grand?ughter. After all the discussion here about this book, now I am wondering: was I as naive as the person who bought me LBS 53 years ago?
Received on Thu 31 Oct 1996 10:30:29 PM CST