Once upon a time there was a place called Sam-sam-sa-mara, where the animals and the people lived and worked together like they didn't know they weren't supposed to. There was a little boy in Sam-sam-sa-mara named Sam....

So begins this delightful telling of one of the most controversial books in children's literature, Little Black Sambo . Julius Lester and Jerry Pinkney reveal at the heart of this story a lively and charming tale of a little boy who triumphs over several hungry tigers.

"Lester and Pinkney have stripped away the ugly racism and...reclaimed a great classic for children. [The] expansive black storytelling voice is both folksy and contemporary, funny and fearful." -- Booklist

"Lester's wit...makes the story fresh and funny; Pinkney's watercolors have vitality and, in the tigers, magnificence." -- The Horn Book

Awards:

( An ALA Notable Book

( An NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

( An American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists"