Babar and Zephir (The Babar Books) [Hardcover]

Jean De Brunhoff (Author), Merle S. Haas (Translator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

In the most fantastical of the classic Babar stories, we follow Zephir, Babar’s monkey friend, home on school holiday. The monkey princess, Isabelle, has been kidnapped by the horned monster Polomoche, and everyone is very worried. But Zephir, with the help of a tiny mermaid named Eleanore, is certain that he can save the princess himself.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

In the most fantastical of the classic Babar stories, we follow Zephir, Babar's monkey friend, home on school holiday. The monkey princess, Isabelle, has been kidnapped by the horned monster Polomoche, and everyone is very worried. But Zephir, with the help of a tiny mermaid named Eleanore, is certain that he can save the princess himself.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (September 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394805798
• ISBN-13: 978-0394805795
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #683,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elephants are not the only Fantastic Creatures!, October 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Babar and Zephir (The Babar Books) (Hardcover)

Page aften page of strange and curious imaginary creatures, mermaids and monkeys! A delightful book.

Zephir embarks from the elephant school, off on his summer vacation. He arrives home at Monkeyville, which is filled with wonderful little houses and shops that hang from the gigantic trees, and off he and his family go to their holiday house, where the first thing that his mother does is prepare a "good soup of bananas and chocolate" (!).

The next day a tremendous package arrives at the post office from Babar. It is a rowboat for Zephir! On a daredevil fishing trip (for monkeys generally do not like the water), Zephir accidentally catches Eleonore, a lovely little mermaid, instead of fish! Sadly he releases her, but she has promised to come to his aid if he ever needs her. Upon his arrival back on shore he is greeted with the horrible news that little Princess Isabelle has been kidnapped in a green cloud smelling of rotten apples! Zephir calls on Eleonore, and she takes him in her fish carriage to her Aunt Crustadele.

Aunt Crustadele believes the culprit can only be Polomoche, who lives on an island with his gang of Gogottes (a very strange assortment of creatures!). "They... are not savage. But they are bored," she says. She sends Zephir off on his quest, telling him he will recognize Polomoche by his pointed horns and yellow skin.

What an adventure! One thing is for sure... any child reading this book will not have a chance to be bored!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun detour in the Babar series., April 10, 2008

By 

Superbug Safety "Full-Throttle Metabolism" (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Babar and Zephir (Hardcover)

This book's been out of print for awhile, which strikes me as strange. Anyhow, out of the classic Babar books by Jean de Brunhoff, this one is probably the "least" among them. It's a great read, and the artwork is delightful, but I did feel a little tricked by the title. The book's called "Babar and Zephir," but Babar's only shown on the first page, and even then, it's just his back! The book's all about Zephir and a crazy adventure he goes on, so it really should have just been called "Zephir" or something. I read a review which commented that this was the strangest of all the Babar books, and I agree. It certainly has the most fantastical storyline, involving Mermaids, strange creatures that will turn you into a rock unless you make them laugh, etc. Zephir's funny, and the story's very cute. It's not the best book in the Babar series, but it deserves to be in print and read. It should be available in the "Bonjour Babar!" collection, if you can't find the individual copy used. All in all, I enjoyed this book, and it was a nice little detour in the series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most "fantastic" of the Babar Books, June 24, 2009

By 

James Fuqua (DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Babar and Zephir (The Babar Books) (Hardcover)

Though not really a "Babar" book, as Babar only makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the book, it is a wonderful addition to the Babar series. These were my favorite books as a child, but I never read this particular book until I got it recently for my own children, 4 & 2. I must say, as a child it always bothered me that there was no "back story" to Zephir. He makes his first appearance as just a monkey that is given as a gift to the Old Lady, then all of the sudden he is Zephir the clever little monkey. This book definitely gives him his own world to inhabit, and he is indeed a clever little monkey! My kids love it.