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Bonjour, Babar!: The Six Unabridged Classics by the Creator of Babar | 
| Author: Jean De Brunhoff
Creator: Kevin Henkes
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
List Price: $29.95
Buy Used: $11.97
as of 7/30/2010 07:45 PDT details
Seller: airportplacebooks
Rating:  16 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Pages: 280
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.5
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.3 x 1
ISBN: 0375810609
EAN: 9780375810602
Publication Date: September 26, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Seven decades after Babar was born, the world is still very much in love with the noble elephant. Before his untimely death at age 37, Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated six stories about Babar and his friends and family. In this exquisite gift edition, every one of these stories is included, with not a word or picture left out. From The Story of Babar--in which the elephant is born, loses his mother, runs off to Paris, and returns to be crowned king--through The Travels of Babar, Babar the King, Babar and Zephir, Babar and His Children, and Babar and Father Christmas, the beloved pachyderm's incredible life adventures are chronicled for our reading pleasure. In his introduction, picture book author-illustrator Kevin Henkes writes, "Where else could one find a balloon accident, a deadly poison mushroom, a runaway carriage, an extraordinary flying machine, a snake attack, fire, war, death, birth? These books are full of adventure and fantasy, but they also deal with the stuff of real life. And I'm convinced children long to see both the dark and the light sides of human experience reflected in their books just as much as adults do, perhaps more." Adults who truly wish to share the joys of the classics with the children in their lives could do no better than to present them with this grand collection. (Ages 4 and older) --Emilie Coulter
Product Description
In 1931 Jean de Brunhoff created Babar, a little elephant who walked out of the jungle and into the hearts of civilized readers the world over. Widely recognized as the father of the picture book, Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated six Babar stories before his early death in 1937. Every word and every picture of these classics is included in this big, inviting gift edition.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 Nothing fancy, but good stories March 25, 2010
Paul Gehrman (San Francisco, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
My five year old loves this book and asks to read these stories over and over. Although I don't know exactly what the appeal is for him, the stories are generally pretty sweet with some adventure, humor, etc. And kids seem to like elephants in just about any book. The illustrations in this book are also nice and colorful. Finally, this book contains six stories so you get a lot of bang for your buck as it were.
 Jean de Brunhoff's Authoritarian Fetish February 16, 2010
El Rey Lin (Palo Alto, California)
Who doesn't love Babar, Celeste, and their little elephant kids? Much of this book is endearing and perfectly harmless. The story where Babar goes on a search for Santa Claus is one of my daughter's favorites. Throughout the book, Babar is a devoted father and loving husband, and the adventures of this happy elephant family will appeal to both children and adults.
However, there are a few unsavory aspects to the these early Babar stories, which were created by Jean de Brunhoff in the 1930s.
There's the illustration of black-skinned savages--complete with grass skirts and big red lips--that doesn't exactly meet today's standards of racial sensitivity. There are the scenes where a hunter shoots and kills the child Babar's mother right in front of his eyes and where Babar and Celeste are kidnapped, imprisoned and forced to perform in a circus. Both depict a level of cruelty that is inappropriate in a book for small children.
de Brunhoff apparently also had something of an authoritarian, militarist fetish, so we see these cute elephants frequently singing the praises of war, soldiers, and absolute despotism. Babar is called "a mighty fine general", elephants capture enemy rhinos and put them into a cage, and Babar ponders how he will rule over his subjects. Considering that these stories were written in France during the rise of fascism in Europe, I don't even want to think where de Brunhoff's mind was.
Then there's the story where the king of the monkeys declares that he will reward a brave young soldier by having his child daughter marry him when she is older. Apparently girls grow up to be bartered chattel in de Brunhoff's land of the monkeys. It's not the most constructive message to be sending to our daughters in the 21st century.
All in all, the stories here have many appealing things for kids, but I do find it necessary to quickly skip over some of the more dicey passages when reading it to my young daughter. I would recommend some of the later Babar books by Jean's son, Laurent de Brunhoff. He carried on the Babar characters and created entertaining, age-appropriate books like "Babar Comes to America" that are free of the disturbing baggage found in the original Babar stories.
Excellent value October 15, 2009
S. Soule (Riverside, CT United States)
Agree with an earlier reviewer that the colors are too bright, but it's a great value for six Babar books. I can acually remember reading the Babar books as a little kid, when they were printed in a script-like font. I was so proud of myself when I could actually read the script myself!
Bonjour, Babar August 8, 2009
M. F. Linden (Australia)
We bought this book for our grandson for his 23rd birthday in September. As a child, he loved to watch the movie -Babar the Elephant - with his grandmother (we have also bought him the movie) and so we thought it would bring back happy memories for him - hence the five star rating which also reflects our appreciation of your organization in respect of delivery to Australia. It was just fantastic timewise and we thank you. Needless to say, we will use your organization in future for books and DVDs
The enchantment of Babar March 2, 2009
S. W. Serfa
A truly intriguing and engaging series of stories for a toddler. My granddaughter is 5 years old and is fascinated by the elephant-possibilities of society, meeting, marriage, children and responsibilities for a kingdom. The illustrations are reassuring and surprising.
I love reading the stories to her, my important, however, is her delight at watching the careful involvement of Babar and Celeste with their children.
A toddler will not look for political implications or issues of "colonization," the pleasure of an unusual and gentle story ( I have to edit out some of the attacks) is what most fascinates and reassures.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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