The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman, and first published by Grant Richards in October 1899 as one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children. The story was a children's favorite for more than half a century but would become a victim of allegations of racism in the mid-20th century. Critics of the time observed that Bannerman presents one of the first black heroes in children's literature and re