Bonjour, Babar!: The Six Unabridged Classics by the Creator of Babar

Babar

by Jean de Brunhoff, Kevin Henkes (Introduction)

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.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fiction, Classics, France, 1st Grade, Fantasy

280 pages, Hardcover

First published September 26, 2000

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

[Ender · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations and a romanticized look at Western European sophistication. Sadly, it does not age well going into the 21st century with Babar marrying his cousin, strong imperialist themes, and depictions of Africans as savage cannibals.

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a doubt, one of my favorite children's books. I can't wait to read this to my son.

[Debbie Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came upon this collection when I was searching for new Kevin Henkes books in my public library online catalog. I found Kevin’s introduction very insightful. I can see how the work of Jean de Brunhoff engaged him as a child & inspired him as an author& illustrator.
I have known of Babar but do not recall reading all of the books. There are indeed some aspects that have not stood the test of time - but we can talk about how the world has changed since these books were written.
I am glad I found this book and now know more about Babar & his world.

[Rea Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never read Babar stories as a child and as an adult, I am happy to have no nostalgia equated with this series.
The story lines are dull. The most redeeming part is the artwork, but sadly some illustrations are of their time (which is a nice way of saying racist. My heart broke over the degrading caricatures of indigenous people).

Overall, hard pass on this series. There are simply too many wonderful children's books out there to hand your child mediocrity.

[Barbara Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just saw on FaceBook a post to name a Children’s book that you loved that starts with the letter of your first name. It took me one second to think of Babar! The series was a favorite of my grandchildren. I had the whole library ~ just LOVED all of those stories!!

[Cullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids love Babar, especially since my daughter's favorite animal is the elephant.

Sure, some of the material is a little dated, but if you can get past that, you'll enjoy these stories.

[Sawy-o]

My grandfather (born in Paris) had these at his house and I loved the illustrations growing up- looking at them now there are a lot of colonialist and racist images and messages in these books.

[Layna Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a great story with the happy story of the elephants in the city.

[Rachel Herschberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

My young boys ate up these stories of Babar. The material is a little dated, but the illustrations are lovely, and the vocabulary is broader than what appears in most modern books for children.

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy and wonderful! I loved these stories as a kid, they seem to strange to me now, but now my kiddos love them!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had only watched the TV cartoon show before, but never read the books, so I decided it was about time for me to do so. Considering Jean de Brunhoff was writing these in the 1930s, the stuff in here is very imaginative. These 6 original stories are considered the first modern picture books and are so fun to read, as well as the illustrations are funny too, esp those of "Babar and Zephir" when the monkey is fishing and accidently catches a mermaid who ends up helping him in the story. My favorite stories were "Babar the King" when Babar is building his capital city Celesteville and assigning all of the elephants jobs to do; and "Babar and Father Christmas" because of Babar's crazy journey to meet Santa and the details that de Brunhoff puts in the images of Santa's underground house is incredible. To think all of this came out of a bedtime story that the author/illustrator's wife came up for their two small boys is incredible!

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Babar books weren't easy to find when I wanted them for my small son so I ordered this compendium online and was delighted to revisit these stories (and there were a couple that were new to me). This collection includes:

"The Story of Babar"; "The Travels of Babar"; "Babar the King"; "Babar and Zephir"; "Babar and His Children"; and "Babar and Father Christmas".

My son loved these stories and didn't bat an eyelid when one character dies from eating a poisonous mushroom or when the baby's pram careers over a cliff or at any of the other perilous moments.

The stories are a little dated now having been written in the 1930s but I lost count of the number of times I had to read them (I never did learn how to pronounce those words in the Father Christmas tale!)

One tiny gripe, I'm not sure that this edition was translated by an Anglophone as the language is sometimes off. However as these were stories for an adult to read to a child, I just corrected it as I went along.

[JanBreesmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonjour, Babar!:The Six Unabridged Classics by the creator of Babar, Jean DeBrunhoff is a great compilation of her books about the big gray elephant who walks upright, talks, and interacts much like a human with his animal friends.

I loved reading about Babar it as a child. I checked these books out over and over again. i read them to my children and they loved them as well. I cannot wait to read them to my grandchildren!

I recommend this book for small children everywhere. These are very imaginative characters.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son and I read Travels of Babar, Babar and Father Christmas, and Babar and His Children, which are included here along with three others we have not yet read. The stories move from adventure to adventure (like the original Curious George stories), and we look forward to reading the remaining original stories.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my 1st introduction to Babar and I thoroughly enjoyed it. All 6 are great books for children. I enjoyed finding the little nuances that made this story evident it was French in origin. The illustrations were fun too. I would be really interested in getting an original French version of the collection.

[Maddalenah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uhm. Quando ero piccola le storie di Babar mi piacevano molto, ma guardandole con un occhio diverso non sono sicura di apprezzare il sottotono di civilizzazione del selvaggio che percorre le avventure di Babar.

[Philipandchristina Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading all of these stories to my daughter and nephews. I remember Babar as a kid and loved that he dressed up like a human. Didn't know that the books were originally French until I checked this out. 274 pages!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best children's book I ever had!

[Laurel]

loved it