The story of Babar, the little elephant

we have very few babar books. he died so young, and his family cannot cut it. the later books are so bad that they're offensive. but this is the first and it works. the only sad thing about it is that babar was not brunhoff's brain child but his wife's and she has never gotten credit for it. she created the elephant as bedtime material for their children. he retold them well, and illustrated them as his children cannot but she should have been co-author at the very least! our kids love this book and the characters and if adults poke holes they can keep quiet. remember, this was told in another day and age and must be read accordingly.

My 3 1/2 year old son loves this book. It's quite a long story and takes about 10 to 15 minutes. I actually never "read" the story to him, I tell the story in my own words, also because at one point, the mother of Barbar is shot my hunters. I tell my son, that Barbar's mother tripped and Barbar took the opportunity to run away. The rest of the book is marvellous and seems to touch children's longings and imagination, which I as a grownup can not always understand, but seeing how much my son enjoys the story is all I need to know. For some time now my son wants me to tell him the story every evening before going to bed.
The drawings are easy to understand, which makes this book even more precious to young children.

I am in the process of reading Babar to my fourth grandchild, and she loves it! I grew up with the magical story and timeless pictures, as did my kids. My 19-month old granddaughter likes to sit on my lap for what she calls "Bar-Bar." The pages of Babar going for a drive and the wedding party with all the animals are great to play "Where's the....?"

Uh, classic or not, I don't care for this book. It's yet another kill the mom book -just lioke all the disney stuff starts out. I don't think this is a good choice for today's wee ones. This is NOT what I'd choose to read at bedtime with my kids at all.

I had this Babar book as a child and could not resist buying it for my daughter, and I am so happy that I did. This book is so incredible, the pictures and colors so vibrant and the text so incredibly addictive, that your child wil carry it with her forever. I know I have. I was stunned by how much of the dialogue and how many of the pictures I remembered. This book is a reasure that you and your children will share for years to come. Some people my comment about some of the themes, but as a child they went over my head, and as an adult, I recognized how tastefully done they are. Highest possible recommendation