Babar's Busy Year

Babar

by Laurent de Brunhoff

Readers of all ages can enjoy the change of seasons as they follow Babar and his family throughout the year as they prepare for Halloween, go on a skiing trip, plant a flower garden, and have picnics by the lake.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Animals, Classics

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Laurent de Brunhoff est un auteur et illustrateur français.

Laurent De Brunhoff has kept the spirit of Babar and his family alive for over 50 years. Babar was created by Laurent's mother as a bedtime story, and was first illustrated by Laurent's father, Jean de Brunhoff.

After his father's death, Laurent continued to create over 30 Babar stories.

Laurent de Brunhoff lived in Connecticut with his wife, writer Phyllis Rose.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Am I the only one who thought this book was actually rather boring? I know I struggle with through-the-year books, anyway, since I feel everything goes too fast for me to get invested in the story. But this one just didn't work for me. I like Babar, but I'll pass on this one.

[Lee Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Babar, but I wasn't a huge fan of this one personally. Simplified story that explores the seasons, featuring beloved, classic characters, but not much happens to keep the kids interested, and the sentences don't have a very natural flow to them. 2/5 stars.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

No real story here, though the book delivers exactly what the title promises - Babar and family enjoying the heck out of each and every season.

[Kathy Nealen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book doesn’t really have a plot. It illustrates the differences in activities for each of the four seasons with Babar and his extended family, including his youngest daughter Isabelle.

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babar's Busy Year is one of the more average Babar books. This one basically goes through the seasons and what activities the family involves themselves in around Celesteville.
The story starts in the fall, with the family taking walks, looking at the changing leaves, playing outside games of kickball and hopscotch, etc. Even Halloween is mentioned.
Next comes winter with the family bundled up and reading in front of the fire ans skiing.
Soon after is spring with the usual flowers, baby birds, gardening, and picnics.
Summer is next, and last, with the family swimming, and looking forward to fall again.
I would have liked to have found this when Julia was still a baby and learning about the seasons. It's simple enough that it'd be a good teaching tool for the subject. Even as simple as it is it's still a decent little story. I wouldn't recommend it for kids Julia's age (6 next month) unless they're waaayyyy interested in Babar. Julia happens to love the Babar shows on On Demand so I took a bunch of Baby books out of our library after seeing them one day.
But Babar is always cute. I love the stories, I love the characters - I don't think I could come up with one thing bad about Babar, Celeste, the kids, Rataxes, any of them, at all.

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 5 out of 5]

E.W.