Bannerman, Helen

Helen Bannerman (1862-1946) was a Scottish author of children's books. She is best known for her first book, Little Black Sambo. Bannerman was born in Edinburgh. Because women were not admitted into British universities, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews, attaining the qualification of Lady Literate in Arts (LLA). Bannerman wrote about India. The illustrations and settings of her books demonstrate that the children she writes about are south Indian or Tamil. For instance, Little Black Sambo has ghee, tigers, and bazaar, Story of Little Black Mingo has jungle, m...