Helen Brodie Cowan Bannerman was a Scottish children's writer. She is best known for her first book, Little Black Sambo (1899).

The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman and published by Grant Richards in October 1899. As one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, the story was popular for more than half a century.