I also remember "Little Black Sambo". My mother taught 5-year olds at an Infant School and it was one of her favourite stories. She thought political correctness was ridiculous!
Did anyone read the Moomin books (by Tove Jansson) as a child? I loved them, but I think the copies I had were all old ones passed down by my elder brother and didn't have dust jackets. But I liked the drawings, which were all done by the author. Anne - do you have any of the original Finnish ones?