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Summary: This should be...
Review: ...a child's (or adult's) introduction to the wonderful world of Babar. It does have sad portion but is a wonderful story with lovely illustrations. You will fall in love with Babar and his friends and want to buy all the books.
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Summary: Charming, loveable elephant shakes off reviewer's aspersions
Review: Ah, Babar, my favorite childhood pachyderm. . . we meet again! Once a sweet waif of an elephant (zut alors, a waif elephant!), you take up with an older *human* woman who wraps your trunk around her silver spoon, desecrating your innocence in the process. No more everyman (er,elephant), no more life in the slow lane, now it's class-conscious, pin-stripped shirts and loose-morals (you *did* marry cousin Celeste). But that's okay, don't worry that my older, more suspicious eyes see you differently. When I sit in the rocker and tell my son of you I remember the good ole carefree days . . . your loveable bungling, the anticipation of adventure, all the places you took me in my mind. By the way, we decorated my son's room in homage to you, my Babar!
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Summary: The original is still the best!
Review: Ah, to be King of the Elephants. Not only do you get to live in the palace in Celesteville, but you also get to rewrite your life story. In the original books, Babar was an ordinary elephant who was orphaned at a young age and went to seek his fortune in the city before he returned and was chosen to be king. In the newer video series that my kids brought home from the library the other day, Babar recounts his adventures as a young prince growing up in the palace. And they say elephants never forget!The original story is fairly simple. After a hunter kills his mother, Babar runs away until he comes to a city. As luck would have it, one of the first people he meets is a lady who loves to spend money on young elephants. Soon Babar has a dashing new wardrobe, a private tutor, and elegant friends. Life would be wonderful if he weren't so homesick. When his two cousins show up, Babar decides to go back home with them. The elders of the elephant herd decide that Babar, with his civilized ways, should become their king. There's a school of thought that criticizes the Babar stories as colonialist. But then, most of children's literature written before the 1970s isn't exactly politically correct, is it? Do you tell your children that Babar is a tool of the imperialist establishment, or do you point out what a wonderful culture the elephants built when they banded together to build Celesteville, their capital city? Or do you just read the stories for pure enjoyment?
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Summary: A tragic yet touching story
Review: Babar first came into my life at when I was 8 and in 3rd grade. I will always remember because that was the happiest grade-school year of my whole life. I was going to private school with a wonderful, sweet teacher and awesome friends. Among all the wonderful things my teacher did with us were some of the neat things in the classroom, some being her supply of story books. Naturally as an animal lover, I grabbed this book during silent reading because I needed some reading material. Tears were streaming down my face as I began to read of Babar's mother's death, and I had tears of joy as some good people take Babar in. I remember being so touched by Babar that whenever someone would mention the word "elephant", I'd get all misty-eyed! It seems funny now but at the time it was quite a dielemma! I was too embarrassed to tell my mom and dad why I was upset so they were concerned! Then my mom went on a trip to California and visited a bunch of garage sales and found some patterns for making little felt Babar and friends dolls. No doubt, Babar had touched my life deep inside. My wonderful childhood was made richer.
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Summary: So enjoyable and timeless!
Review: Enjoyed reading this series so much to our son that I am buying these books 25 years later as gifts.
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Summary: The Story of Babar is an all time children's classic-a must
Review: Every child should have this book as well as Babar and Zephir(if it goes to print again). The father(Jean de Brunhoff) who started these books are the one's children should own and hold onto for generations. I LOVE BABAR!
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Summary: A Classic
Review: From the beautiful illustrations, to the charming characters, everything about Babar reminds you of a time when we took the intelligence of our children seriously. The first thing anyone who grew-up on more modern fare will notice is the delightful and literate prose. The reason children could speak latin by 5th grade 80 years ago, was that they weren't condescended-to; and Babar doesn't either. You won't get the modern "barney-speak" here, this generation had more confidence in your children, believe me. Although the prose may be too difficult for the average 5 or 6 yr-old to read on their own, they will have no difficulty at all in understanding it perfectly when read to them. Now my 5 yr-old daughter knows what a "perambulator" is, you won't get that from the Wiggles. As far as the complaints in regard to "scariness", all I can say is, if this is scary because Babar's mother is killed by a hunter, then you'd better take Bambi, The Lion King and close to all of the fairy tales off of the reading list as well. The subject is handled compassionately and tastefully. Of course I want to sheild my child from horrific content, but if we refuse to gently ease them in to life's realities, such as the loss of loved-ones, then their entertainment turns from safe into vacuous pretty quickly. I won't even waste bandwidth on the silly, leftist nonsense regarding imperialism. There is no political content here, subtle or otherwise. If you really want the kind of western culture "self-flagellation" that these aging hippies seem to thrive on, try Disney's Pocahontas, or a Cartoon version of The Life of Che Guevara. Assume the best of your kids and try the Babar series, particularly the older ones.
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Summary: Babar is cool
Review: I am 14, and I still like Babar. It is high quality, eexcept for the fact that he married his cousin, Celeste. Then he takes advantage of a rich old lady, and has her buy him stuff. And the king died by eating a bad mushroom. It's a good book, but slightly inappropriate.
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Summary: imperialist propaganda for the kiddies
Review: I don't know why this book is a classic. Foreigners come to Babar's home and kill his mother. He goes to the land of the foreigners to learn to be just like them because the are so swell and all. He then takes their ways back home with him. marries his cousin and gets everyone to wear clothes like the foreigners. This is a nightmare, not a children's book.
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Summary: The way to the forest where we belong
Review: I find it an outrage that older people pretend to have forgotten how it feels when a vile hunter kills your mother elephant. The page of The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant where this base crime was commited used to be wet with tears. Of course, there were four of us, aged three to eight, repeatedly reading about this despicable deed, and unfailingly shocked to tears. But on the next page, the city was so much like the one which roared across our windows. The younger amongst us would not have found it extraordinary to come across an elephant in Paris, and the older ones knew that there was a direct way from our native city to the forest where, as elephants, we did belong. Yet, how come we forgot is a deep mystery. But still, I know the way to the forest: come hither, I show you...
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