The Story of Little Babaji

by Helen Bannerman, Fred Marcellino (Illustrator)

Overview

Born in Edinburgh in 1863, Helen Bannerman lived in India for thirty years. As a gift for her two little girls, she wrote and illustrated The Story of Little Black Sambo(1899), a story that clearly takes place in India (with its tigers and "ghi," or melted butter), even though the names she gave her characters belie that setting. For this new edition of Bannerman's much beloved tale, the little boy, his mother, and his father have all been given authentic Indian names: Babaji, Mamaji, and Dadaji. And Fred Marcellino's illustrations'lively and lavish'are unmistakably Indian in every detail. The Story of Little Babaji:an old favorite is lovingly, memorably transformed.

1996 Children's Books (NY Public Library)
Notable 1997 Childrens' Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
1997 Editor's Choice (Booklist)
Booklist Notable Children's Books of 1997
‘Lasting Connections of 1996' Book Links

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062050649
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/30/1996
Series:	Michael Di Capua Books Series
Pages:	72
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 6.50(h) x 0.25(d)
Lexile:	AD740L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Fred Marcellino's picture books include Puss in Boots, a Caldecott Honor Book; The Steadfast Tin Soldier, an ALA Booklist Children's Editors' Choice; and The Pelican Chorus, one of School Library Journal's Best Books of the Year.

His most recent books, The Story of Little Babaji and Ouch! are both ALA Notable Children's Books.

Dancing By the Light of the Moon: The Art of Fred Marcellino will open on November 9, 2002 and run through January 26, 2003 at The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This is a comprehensive show of more than 150 pieces highlighting his children's book career, and the first museum retrospective honoring the artistic accomplishments of this remarkable artist. For more information visit, The Norman Rockwell Museum website.

Editorial Reviews

This story, which might almost have come out of some folklore collection, has about it an effortless perfection which baffles analysis . . . The formula is: extreme simplicity of language, short, cadenced sentences with enough repetition to give the pleasant rhythm little children enjoy, a plot full of mild and funny surprises, considerable suspense, and complete satisfaction at the end. Still, the easy charm of this unaffected, convincing little tale eludes us.

May Hill Arbuthnot

A children's classic gets the Michael Jackson treatment: lightened skin, fancy new dress, a bit of (editorial) cosmetic surgery and voila! Fine old wine in a new bottle. The text remains the same (less the American edition's preface), except that Black Sambo, Black Mumbo, and Black Jumbo are given what are billed as "authentic Indian names"—Little Babaji, Mamaji, and Papaji—that are still appropriately ingenuous, but considerably less loaded. Marcellino (The Pelican Chorus, 1995, etc.) provides illustrations far more polished than the originals, ably capturing both the story's true setting and its glorious silliness. Little Babaji, looking like a glossy teak marionette, faces a succession of huge, luxuriously supple tigers whose eventual meltdown provides him, Papaji, and sari-clad Mamaji with a supper of pancakes—and "Little Babaji ate a Hundred and Sixty-Nine, because he was so hungry." Offered in a square format about an inch higher than the diminutive original, this remake combines a star illustrator and a story with proven appeal: You can't beat it.

Kirkus Reviews