Customer Reviews

Babar the King (Babar Books (Random House))

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

 

 

My son is fond of books. I can always tell if he likes a book, because he talks about it after we read it...This book he is still talking about, and I am rereading, and rereading, and rereading .....

I had this book as I was growing up only 14 short years ago and still remember it as a wonderful book and an enjoyable companion to all of the other Babar books. An excellent addition to any child's collection and one they will be sure to treasure and remember for years to come.

If you're on the fence about Babar books, don't be. I LOVED these as a child and I am thrilled to share them with my children. Only time will tell if they love them as much as I did, but I'm certainly hoping they do.

My Babar books were my favorite as a child so I often give them as gifts to get some other child started on these beautiful stories. I do wish that the publisher still used cursive writing rather than type (it made these books seem more "special" to me) but the stories hold through the test of time. If the original format was still available I'd rate it five stars.

Babar is funny. I was reminded of this when I read Babar the King to a seven- and a five-year old. They laughed at the elephants dressed up in clothes and they laughed at the elephants at the theatre. When it came to the part about the elephants at war, they stopped laughing. "That's dumb"the older one said.
I had to agree.

Babar the King, written by Jean De Brunhoff, translated by Merle S. Hass, and originally published by Random House in 1935, is a part of a series of books about King Babar, who rules over all the elephants. In Babar the King, King Babar and Queen Celeste have just returned from their honeymoon. They have signed a peace treaty with the rhinoceroses, and King Babar has just announced that he will be giving all the elephants in his kingdom gifts. King Babar has also proclaimed that he has plans to build the city of Celesteville. From that point on the story dissolves into several, smaller narratives. We see Babar giving his subjects gifts. Then Celesteville is completed. Then all the elephants are at the theater. Babar and Celeste play tennis and all the elephants get jobs. There is no discernable conflict until the end of the book, when two of Babar's friends, Cornelius and Old Lady, are both subjected to various misfortunes. However, they both recover quickly, and Old Lady seems to deliver a lesson at the end of the story, when she says "We must never get discouraged." While children will be amused by the simple, but whimsical illustrations of elephants playing tennis and wearing clothes, adults may notice that the pacing of this story is slow. The tense and point of view often switch throughout the story, which may make for a confusing read. In the end, Babar can be charming, but it may be best to focus more on the pictures, rather than the story.