Customer Reviews

barbapapa's ark

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

 

 

My older sister gave me this book back in the early 70's when I was 5. I absolutely loved it. Even then it impressed me how the careless humans were polluting the world, and only Barbapapa and his family were able to help. Great visuals, lovely characters. I wish this book were still in print, it would still be very relevant today. This was probably the first "kid friendly" book I'd ever encountered which discussed pollution in terms I could relate to. I would love to see a resurgence of Barbapapa books, toys, etc., as we have seen with Curious George, etc.

This ISBN 0590118277 is for a set of 1 book and 1 Audio tape. The book's title is WINTER SONGS TO SING Compiled by Bernice Chardiet 1999, and the tape is 1998. Both by scholastic and they come in a clear plastic sleeve.

I loved this book as a kid! I recently dug up my old copy to share with my niece. I'm so glad I still had it. The pictures, the names of the characters, and the fact that the characters could change their shapes around were all so cool! There is a house near where I live that is kind of shaped like the house that the they built, and I think of this book every time I drive by! I'm so glad I'm not the only one who remembers this book!

I still have my copy of this book that I received when I was 5 years old. As a young child, I enjoyed BARBAPAPA'S ARK for the depictions of the colorful Barba characters, who could physically change into the shape of anything they pleased (i.e., a frog, a plane, a bird, etc.) It was only after I started re-reading this book to my 3 year old son that I began to scrutinize both the overt environmental message of the book, and some of the "eyebrow raising" subtly of the artwork.

In terms of the book's environmental message, it was way ahead of its time: With the depiction of solar powered communities, electric powered vehicles, high-tech water filtration systems, and the elimination of pollution-creating factories, BARBAPAPA'S ARK seems much more like a book that would have been written today rather than nearly 40 years ago.

In tandem with its environmental message, BARBAPAPA'S ARK focuses primarily on the welfare and benevolent treatment of the world's animals. Specially, the book demonizes hunting and commercial fishing; we're given antiquated images of African safari style hunters (who in their evil "thought bubbles" are thinking about such things as mounted rhino heads, crocodile handbags, and zebra rugs), English "fox hunters" on horseback, and 19th century style whalers using hand held harpoons and hand held fishing nets - even by 1974 standards, these hunting examples seem anachronistic and comical.

Although not said directly, there seems to be an implicit message of pro-vegetarianism associated with BABRAPAPA'S ARK in their promulgation of people "promis[ing] not to hunt animals anymore." While I can appreciate the book's message of respect for all sentient life, I am not a vegetarian. From my perspective, choosing to be a full meat eater, a piscivore, a vegetarian, or a vegan is a private and personal matter. While I am in agreement with the book in regard to both the abhorrent practice of poaching, and the general vulgarity of sport hunting, I bristle a little bit at their "broad-stroke" negative connotation associated with all hunting; I have family members and friends that annually hunt deer, and other wild game, for the meat. Sustainable hunting and fishing is not necessarily a negative thing - oftentimes it can be beneficial to the overall health and well-being of a regional game population, and cultures have done it since time immemorial. Despite this minor disagreement that I have with the author, the book's overall messages of proper environmental stewardship and peaceful co-existence, in conjunction with its presentation of unique and colorful artwork, makes it a decent addition to a child's reading collection.

A final note regarding the artwork: In particular, there are at least two depictions in the book that I am slightly amused/ puzzled by. First, in the opening scene of the book, the reader is introduced to Barbapapa, Barbamama, the Barbababies, and their two human friends, Francois and Cindy. It is an idyllic, picnic scene on a pristine riverfront - the Barbababies are engaged in various nature activities, while Barbamama and Barbapapa are eating lunch with Francois and Cindy, who are clad in swim wear... or in the case of Cindy, just barely. She's depicted in the artwork as being topless, wearing only a string-tied pair of white bikini bottoms. (The artist elected to add significant detail to the drawing of Cindy's derriere as well). Even as a young child, I found this depiction to be a bit odd. It was definitely not something that you would normally see in a children's book. The second interesting art choice can be found on the front cover of the book. Here we have the Barba family surrounded by a myriad of friendly animals (Barabeau is lovingly holding a porcupine, Barbamama is feeding a baby seal with a bottle, Francois is sitting on top of an elephant, etc.) However, near the center of the picture, we see the depiction of a white, domestic cat turned about three-quarters away from the viewer, with its tail sticking straight up in the air - thus giving a full view of the cat's exposed anus (depicted by the artist as a stark, black dot against the white fur). I'm not offended by the drawing...But why, out of all of the possible ways that the cat could have been drawn into the scene of the children's book, did the artist make the conscious choice to draw it with its rear end exposed? Once again, this seems a bit odd. In retrospect, my theory is that, in both instances, these were examples of "cheeky" French humor on the part of the artist - Perhaps they were meant as a tacit "poke" at American priggishness and sensibilities.

You'll love this sweet story of the Barbapapa's saving the animals, then the humans fixing the world. Such a great story for your children. The best choice of characters to play pretend as.