Babar Goes Skiing

Babar

by Jean de Brunhoff, Laurent de Brunhoff

Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. 1st Edition 1969. Slim 8vo. Unpaginated. Wonderful and profuse coloured illustrations by the authors of the much beloved Babar the Elephant, coloured illustrated endpapers. Very good clean tight sound square, no bookplate, inscription or ownership marks of any kind. Stitched into very good original colour pictorial laminated thick card boards, with the rounded red spine of the earlier Editions, featuring Babar skiing to upper and his children sledging to lower. Gently rubbed to head of spine and with slight bump to head and lower corner. Increasingly uncommon in such good condition and a delight for reader and collector alike.

Genres: Childrens

20 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1969

About the author

Jean de Brunhoff was a French writer and illustrator known for co-creating Babar, which first appeared in 1931. The stories were originally told to their second son, Mathieu, when he was sick, by his wife Cecile de Brunhoff. After its first appearance, six more titles followed. He was the fourth and last child of Maurice de Brunhoff, a successful publisher, and his wife Marguerite. He attended Protestant schools, including the prestigious L'Ecole Alsacienne. Brunhoff joined the army and reached the front lines when World War I was almost over. Afterwards, he decided to be a professional artist and studied painting at Academie de la Grand Chamiere. He married Ceccile Sabourand, a talented pianist from a Catholic family, in 1924.
Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. After his death, Hachette bought the printing and publishing rights to the Babar series, and ten years later Jean's eldst son, Laurent, took on his late father's role of writing and illustrating the series. The first seven Babar albums were reprinted and millions of copies were sold all around the world, but they were all abridged; they had 30 pages instead of the original 48. The Babar books are thought to be a way for Brunhoff to share himself with his family. Many people did not notice the 10 year gap, as Laurent also showed exceptional talent in drawing elephants. De Brunhoff and his wife are buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this for Christmas from my daughter. It was a lovely gift, I love Babar but have never seen this story before.

This edition is a small book an fairly short story but still has all the wonderful illustrations you would expect to find in a Brunhoff book. After visiting their friend, the old lady, Babar and Celeste go on a skiing holiday. There are some lovely illustrations of cable cars, sleds and mountain scenes. We loved the double page of Babar in different positions learning to ski! Once Babar and Celeste of mastered skiing they decide to go for a day in the mountains, caught in a snowstorm they await help, needless to say all ends well. Beautiful book, I'm looking forward to reading this to a small person.