Joel Chandler Harris is one of the few succesful writers of dialect. Kipling was another, as is George MacDonald Frasier.
I had a book with illustrations from the Disney Song of the South, but the stories were all in dialect. Rather fun. One of the reasons I love accents.
The Disney movie was pretty Schmaltsy, but the Brer Rabbit scenes were wonderful. it's so silly to ban it as it's really about a boy tried to adjust and find his place in life.