Helen Brodie Cowan Bannerman (' Watson; 25 February 1862 – 13 October 1946) was a Scottish children's writer. She is best known for her first book, Little Black Sambo (1899).

Life

thumb|The Bannerman grave, [[Grange Cemetery]]

Bannerman was born at 35 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh. She was the eldest daughter and fourth child of seven children of Robert Boog Watson (1823–1910), minister of the Free Church of Scotland and malacologist, and his wife Janet (1831–1912), daughter of Helen Brodie and the papermaker and philanthropist Alexander Cowan. Between the ages of 2-12, she lived in Madeira, where her father was minister at the Scottish church.

Because women were not admitted into Scottish universities at the time, she sat external examinations set by the University of St. Andrews, attaining the qualification of Lady Literate in Arts (LLA) in 1887. capital of the state of Tamil Nadu on the southeastern seacoast, populated mostly by the Tamil ethnic group. During their thirty years in India, they had four children: daughters Janet (b. 1893) and Day (b. 1896), and sons James "Pat" Patrick (b. 1900) and Robert (b. 1902).

Works

The illustrations and settings of Bannerman's books are all about Indians and their culture. Little Black Sambo has ghee, tigers, and a bazaar, The Story of Little Black Mingo has jungle, a mugger crocodile, a dhobi, and a mongoose, Little Black Quasha has a bazaar and tigers, and The Story of Little Black Quibba has mangoes and elephants.

  • The Story of Little Black Sambo, 1899
  • Story of Little Black Mingo, 1901
  • The Story of Little Black Quibba, 1902
  • Little Degchie-Head: An Awful Warning to Bad Babas, 1903
  • Little Kettle-Head, 1904
  • Pat and the Spider, 1905
  • The Story of the Teasing Monkey, 1907
  • Little Black Quasha, 1908
  • Story of Little Black Bobtail, 1909
  • Sambo and the Twins, 1936
  • The Story of Little White Squibba, 1966 Finished by her daughter

See also

  • Golliwogg

References

  • Helen Bannerman biography
  • Helen Bannerman in SterlingTimes
  • The Story of Little Black Sambo in SterlingTimes