1939 first edition of Tobe by teacher Stella Gentry Sharpe depicts the day-to-day lives of Black children and their families in North Carolina.
Written by Stella Gentry Sharpe. Photography by Charles Farrell. 1939, first edition, first printing. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
TOBE
"I am Tobe.
My real name is Clay Junior.
Tobe is a nickname.
I go to school.
We have fun on our farm.
I will tell you about it."
Stella Gentry Sharpe, a teacher, lived with her husband on a farm in Hillsborough, North Carolina. One day, standing at her mailbox chatting with Clay McCauley Jr, a Black child from a neighboring farm, he asked why children's books never had children who looked like him. Clay's question inspired Sharpe to write a children's book that's considered to be the first to accurately, respectfully portray the lives of Black children. By comparison, consider Little Black Sambo.
By the time Charles Farrell was ready to shoot the photos for the book, the McCauley kids and friends had outgrown the book's characters. So, they recruited a group of younger kids, and Charles "Windy" Garner played Clay McCauley Jr.
Scenes of life on the farm include tending animals, doing chores, harvesting crops, going to church, and playing.
There is a modern critical edition of Tobe that's used in schools, but it's a tribute to Sharpe's affection and respect for her students that Tobe has withstood the tests of our times. She continued to teach to the end of her life.
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Condition*: Very Good. Missing dust jacket. Red cloth cover: Light shelf wear; lightly bumped at head and tail of spine. Inside: Bookplate on front flyleaf; pages are clean, undamaged, and complete.
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