Author Julius Lester presents a new edition telling of an African American child known as Sambo. In his book, Sam and the Tigers, the author uses his memory of the past and creativity to create a picturebook of an imaginary place where animals and people live and work together. The genre is fiction.
The illustrator, Jerry Pinkney uses pencils and watercolor to give readers full-color artwork for visualizing the imagination use of the author. The story starts off with the classic fairytale line, "Once upon a time." This tone is an interesting way to spark suspicion of young readers!
A question I would ask prior to reading this book would be:
- Has anyone ever heard of the stories about Sambo?
After finishing the book with my class, I would ask the following questions:
- Do you think Sam was brave for facing the tigers?
- How would you have reacted if you were in that situation?
- How many people were named Sam in this story? Where did the story take place?
There are a few motivational activities I would include after reading this book. One activity would be a learning about the different places where the animals come from. The book is about animals and people working and living together. Another activity would be to learn about the history of Sambo. Perhaps the children could write about or draw their own imaginary place as well.
I specifically liked this book because the author took a new way of introducing historical events as fun by reconceptualization. The use of syllables and the illustrations were very parallel to the story. Great book with a unique intent to retell a story from the past.
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