Customer Reviews

Babar and His Children (Babar Books (Random House))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My two older sons (ages 5 & 2 1/2) have really enjoyed reading this story since the birth of their twin siblings last year. The adventures of the triplets, especially trouble-making Alexander, keep them glued to the book! They love Alexander's exciting brushes with disaster and are so happy when everything turns out well at the end. The last lines of Babar always makes me tear up: "Truly it is not easy to bring up a family, but how nice the babies are! I can't imagine how I'd get along without them now."

Babar is a big favorite with my kids, but the book contains some comically outdated ideas about childrearing. Celeste sends Babar out on a bike ride so he'll miss the birth of his children. Later, when Celeste has to give up breastfeeding because of insufficient milk supply, the doctor recommends cow's milk (for elephants?) with honey (guess they hadn't heard of the botulism risk). Once they're slightly older, the children have a series of brushes with death. Flor chokes on her rattle, prompting Celeste to hold her upside down and shake her. (Celeste need a first aid course.) Alexandre gets catapulted out of a runaway stroller, goes over a cliff, and is saved only when he lands in a tree. Pom is saved from crocodile attack and near-drowning by his father, who fends off the crocodile "even though he has no gun." Once out of the water, he is given hot drinks and put to bed under heavy blankets. Presumably one can't be too careful about hypothermia, even in Africa. All in all, an uplifting tale.

our kids love this book! gentle, loving, and anxious parents - take heart from babar and celeste! this have served as read-to stuff - and has passed into family lexicon. whenever we tell of some mishap, it always ends in "when suddenly ... the accident!" it's exciting, and funny, and reassuring. Kids love naughtiness, they have their surrogates in alexander and his elder, arthur. and they love everything turning out right in the end! i recommend this book.

I was disappointed when the book came. It was so small. The site description said it was 11.3 inches x 8.3 inches. Actually the one sent me was 9 inces x 6 inches. I don't know if it was the seller trying to sell smaller books other than Amazon described. I ordered a different Babar book from a different seller, and it was the larger size. I don't know what's going on. I loved these books when I was a child and wanted the same book for my grandchild.

I loved the Babar books when I was little so I bought them quickly for my three year old daughter. some of the content is a little above a three year olds cognitive ability (ex: death of Babar's mother, children about to get eaten by crodcodile...)...I think better for a 4-5 year old.

I purchased this for my three year old granddaughter to show her Grandma's favorite book when I was little! It did not disappoint and the classic story endures!

This book is great for young children and also has a meaning for adults and teens too.I was filled with laughs and smiles when I read this book.I am quite honest when I say Babar is my Hero of the day!

This classic is enchanting. It's sweet with several anxious moments for the characters. Babar and his family are good, kind, and worth knowing. The children are like children anywhere; mischievous and without adult wisdom. They are not the all knowing ones, the parents are. Fancy that.

So everyone thinks they know Barbar and then you read the stories. Half of them are horribly racist or just so outdated and outmoded I can't share them with my kids. In this story, the Queen has triplets and "can't nurse them well enough" and is "told by the doctor to supplement." Yeah, cause that happens in the natural world. There is also a lot of really weird and dated and depressing child rearing that seems very 1940s doctor-centric. Not for us.