Babar and the Succotash Bird [Hardcover]

Laurent de Brunhoff (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

One night on his terrace, Alexander is greeted by a strange and exotic bird. The young elephant is delighted to discover the brightly coloured creature is a wizard. The bird entertains Alexander with his magic and promises to visit him again soon. But Alexander soon learns that things are not always as they appear.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One sleepless night, Babar's son Alexander steps onto the terrace to look at the moonlit sky. But it's not the moon filling the sky with brightness. Alexander is startled to see a luminous red and gold bird gliding towards him, clapping his beak: "Tash! Succotash! What are you doing here so late?" The young elephant is delighted to discover that this marvelous bird is in fact a wizard. After partaking of the Succotash Bird's magical charms, Alexander bids him farewell. The very next day, on a hike with his family, Alexander meets his fine-feathered friend again... or does he? As the Succotash Bird warned him the evening before, "sometimes it's hard to tell friend from foe." This curious addition to the classic Babar series provides an interesting, yet somewhat odd lesson in recognizing that things are not always as they seem. Alexander's nightmarish education via the bad wizard is a bit harsh, with little to comfort him other than a lucky save by his mother and the good wizard.

Laurent de Brunhoff, building upon his father Jean de Brunhoff's original seven Babar stories, including Babar the King and The Story of Babar, the Little Elephant, has created more than 30 books about the world's most beloved pachyderm. Laurent de Brunhoff brings to life the adventures of Babar and his family with his tremendously appealing, loosely colored and outlined illustrations. Babar, once met, will remain with every reader for life. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

In de Brunhoff's rather awkwardly paced picture book, the first in more than seven years, Babar's son Alexander embarks on a nighttime adventure with a magical bird and gets caught between benevolent and malevolent forces. Unable to sleep, Alexander goes to the terrace and discovers "a beautiful bird with sparkling colors" that calls itself a wizard and cries "Succotash!" Alexander swings "pleasantly back and forth, left and right" through the air with the bird (though in the accompanying painting Alexander seems to be falling off the terrace), but his siblings don't believe the fellow's report of the nocturnal events. The next morning, the family sets out on a hiking trip, which occasions some of the volume's most charming paintings as Babar, Celeste and their tribe head uphill and take refuge from inclement weather on the mountaintop. When a second wine-colored wizard bird shows up (also crying "Succotash!"), Alexander mistakes it for his new friend, and the fowl transforms Alexander into a giant, then reduces him to a size smaller than a squirrel. Here the narrative begins to lurch: the hero's family seems to take no notice of his gargantuan size; a diminutive Alexander falls backward into a lake that was not in evidence before. Paintings of the tiny fellow falling end-over-end from a grassy bank toward some lily pads below or "lost in an ivy forest" offer welcome respite from overblown spreads of the hero's rescue (with parachutes and helicopters to boot) and the conflict between the two birds. When de Brunhoff focuses on the family and the dynamics between them, his work shines. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) FYI: De Brunhoff is the subject of a Q&A on p. 194.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 38 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 1st edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810957000
• ISBN-13: 978-0810957008
• Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great New Babar Story, January 14, 2001

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Babar and the Succotash Bird (Hardcover)

If you are like me, Babar stories are among your favorites. Hopefully, they are your children's favorites too. This is a new story from Laurent de Brunhoff. As much as I like the story, I must say that I like the illustrations even more. This is one of the most beautifully illustrated of all the Babar stories.

One night in Celesteville, Alexander (King Babar's and Queen Celeste's elephant son) awakens. Drawn by the bright light coming through the window, he walks out onto the terrace to look at the moon. But there is no moon. The light is caused by a beautiful red and gold bird with sparkling feathers. The bird says, "Tash! Succotash! What are you doing here so late?" Alexander replies, "I can't sleep." The bird says that he is a wizard, and asks Alexander if he wants to play parachute or swing-swing. Alexander doesn't know what either one is. He chooses swing-swing, and soon he floating in the air, swinging gently back and forth and left to right. Alexander loves it. The wizard eventually returns Alexander to the terrace and persuades him to return to sleep.

Since Alexander has had such a good time, he wants to know if the wizard will come back to play with him again. The wizard says that he may, but issues a warning. "But remember, there are good and bad wizards, and sometimes it's hard to tell friend from foe."

The very next day, the elephant family goes for a walk and Alexander spots another bird, this time a brown one, that says "Succotash!" And the adventure begins in a new direction.

The moral of this story is that life is full of right and wrong mixed together, like succotash is "lima beans cooked up with corn." Youngsters need to be on the look out.

All humans are inclined to draw patterns in their minds that may or may not be present. You have a wonderful time with a new friend, and expect that the next time will be exactly the same. But you may have met that person on the happiest day of his or her life, and the next time you see the person is the saddest. Also, because your aunt and uncle are nice, that doesn't mean someone else's aunt and uncle will be, too. I thought that this book was unusually good in helping a child establish a sense of skepticism and distinction, rather than extrapolating blindly from the last experience. If this lesson can be learned well, your child's life will be much happier and more successful.

Nice writing!

After you finish enjoying this story, I suggest that you think about where you and your child may be drawing false conclusions from incomplete or misleading evidence. For example, if you and your child went to the aquarium on a day when it was crowded and she or he was sick, perhaps you had a bad time and have avoided the aquarium since then. If so, perhaps you should try again on a not-so-crowded day when both of you feel terrific.

Look for the best and worst, and embrace the best!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's a nice story, January 9, 2001

By 

M. Ragen "searagen" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Babar and the Succotash Bird (Hardcover)

This recent addition to the classic Babar series is somewhat less whimsical than the original set of books but enjoyable nonetheless. The pictures are nice and have the same spirit as the originals; my 6-year old boy likes the way that the pictures are drawn. However, the story is a bit choppier. The lessons are carefully and explicitly made: (1) be careful what you wish for as you might be surprised and (2) that life is mixed between good and bad just like succotash is mixed with beans and corn.

If you're looking for the classic Babar stories by Jean de Brunhoff, then this would be a second choice.

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing babar book, November 17, 2010

By 

andrea - See all my reviews

This review is from: Babar and the Succotash Bird (Hardcover)

The repetition of the word succotash seems to be the driving force of this book. I kid you not, the moral is explicitly spelled out at the end of the story: "Succotash! That is how life is--right mixed with wrong. Like succotash: lima beans cooked up with corn." While nicely illustrated, the book's dialogue is dull and inane.