Little Babaji
July 3rd, 2009
We recently received The Story of Little Babaji as a gift, and it has become one of our new favorite books. Every night my boys request ‘Little Babaji’ as one of their bedtime books, and we read the lovely story about a little boy who outsmarts a bunch of hungry tigers in the jungle. The story is so simple and so sweet, and the illustrations are beautiful. It’s actually very fairytale-esque.
On the inside of the cover, I read that this edition, illustrated by Fred Marcellino, is a remake of the original story from 1899 which was titled “The Story of Little Black Sambo”. Apparently, after winning the hearts of many children for more than half a century, the original book was deemed too controversial because of the term ’sambo’, which was a racial slur in some countries.
This new edition (same story, different name) has thankfully resurrected the honorable tale to well-deserved acclaim. It’s really a timeless story, and because of its smaller size and hardback binding, it makes a perfect little gift. We’re certainly loving ours!
-Courtney
Entry Filed under: Books & Paper, Reading
2 Comments Add your own
1. Rosie | July 3rd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Oui! So happy to see you feature this book. This is one of mine, and my boys, very favourites! We have it in French…. “Petit Babaji”.
We love the delightful and beautifully coloured illustrations……….what story doesn’t end well when all the excitement concludes with a mile-high plate of crepes (or in this case, Indian rotis or parathas) freshly flipped by Mamaji! Highly recommended x
2. Kim | July 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Hi Court,
Happy your boys (and little girl) liked their new book. My parents read this book to me as a little girl and was happy to find it for my boys. Happy to have found you a book which you didn’t found yourself yet!
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