Kids Pick ... from the library stack

I don't have much time to write this morning so I'm going to highlight a recent book from our library stack that I have read NUMEROUS times since we checked it out. :) It is The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman.

This is the retelling of Little Black Sambo, and old folk tale. From Wikipedia:

The Story of Little Black Sambo, a children's book by Helen Bannerman, a Scot who lived for 30 years in Madras in southern India, was first published in London in 1899. (An American edition of the book was illustrated by Florence White Williams.) In the tale, an Indian boy named Sambo prevails over a group of hungry tigers. The little boy has to give his colourful new clothes, shoes, and umbrella to four tigers so they will not eat him. Sambo recovers the clothes when the jealous, conceited tigers chase each other around a tree until they are reduced to a pool of delicious melted butter. The story was a children's favourite for half a century, but then became controversial due to the use of the word sambo, a racial slur in some countries.

My girls LOVED this story. Loved, loved, loved. I can't tell you how many times I read it to the 3yo. The story is fairly repetitious - as he meets four tigers in a row, the dialogue is very similiar with the the exception of a different article of clothing being mentioned/taken. I would read the descriptive parts of the book and N2 would read the words of both Babaji and the tigers ... "Please Mr. Tiger, don't eat me up!" Folk tales are some of my favorite to read with the girls because of the history and culture that are woven throughout; as in this case, the girls got a small flavor of Indian dress and speech.

For more Kids' Picks, head over to Five Minutes for Books!

Other Kids' Picks Posts:
~ Books by James Mayhew
~ Betsy-Tacy
~ Each Peach Pear Plum
~ The Great Blueness and Other Predicaments