Sam and the Tigers: A New Telling of Little Black Sambo (PB) (2000)

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. AThe? expansive black storytelling voice is both folksy and contemporary, funny and fearful. --Booklist