The Travels of Babar (Babar Series)

Wonderful addition to any child’s classic library book collection

OK, caveats first- Babar has not aged as well as, say, "Make way for Ducklings", or one of Maurice Sendak's books. The way Babar speaks can sound a touch anachronistic... And then there is the island of the cannibals... hoo boy. If you are the sensitive, liberal type who gets worked up about "micro-triggers".. just move on. But, damn, you will be missing a great story. Babar and Celeste get into all types of scrapes, but with pluck, resourcefulness and courage always find their way through. "The Travels of Babar", although the second book in a long series, is probably the best - "The Empire Strikes Back" of the Babar series. Wonderfully written and illustrated, it should be 5 stars, but unfortunately docked a star for modern political correctness. But if you don't care about that and just want an engaging, rollicking adventure- buy with confidence

Bought this for my new granddaughter, a story I remember from my own childhood

I'm going to disagree with something one of the other reviewers here said. Do depictions of black people as savage cannibals result in a young reader internalising negative stereotypes about black people? Yes!! Do depictions of old women as witches result in negative perception of older women? Yes! Do stories of helpless damsels being rescued by handsome princes and marrying/ living happily ever after put the idea in little girl's heads that the ultimate means to happiness is finding and marrying a man? Yes, yes and yes!!! Many women struggle for years to get this latter idea out of their heads, which is often put there in early childhood by certain types of stories.There is a good reason why there is a surge in books that portray strong, independent princesses who rescue themselves from a sticky spot. It seems to me children's writers are much more careful these days about depicting witches as evil old women. And I doubt anybody writing a children's book now would portray black people in the way they are portrayed in this book.This book is fascinating as a product of it's time and it demonstrates starkly how far we've all come. But I don't what to give it to my child when there are much better books out there. A book that depicts black people as cannibals and finishes with our the elephants imprisoning the two rhinos as prisoners of war? Why would you give such a book to your child? There are so many better children's books around.I'm going to keep it as a fascinating artifact. One day, I might give it to my child to show how times and attitudes change so drastically over time.

this is the second babar book, still written by the author (and i include brunhoff's wife who is babar's true creator.) there is much in it that might offend today - i see versions of the book with those sections edited out and maybe that is wise in this day and age. however, we find those sections good leadins to deeper matters of prejudice and ignorance and therefore the book, intended as light humorous reading, serves a much more valuable purpose. with this in mind, i would advise parents to read the book before buying, not on account of the book's quality, but because of the content. It has served as a read-to book, and is read by our kids 4 - 6. It's sturdy, has taken much use, and is still looking good on the shelf!

Love Babar! Read it as a child and still love it as an adult, am glad to have it for my grandchildren.

My daughter was given these books when she was a child and loved the pictures and the stories..so I bought them for a friend's 4 year old grand-son for his birthday. And even though he had so many of the new modern toys. He really loved the books and stories. His parents were excited, too, since they had the books as children. it was a sweet gift.

Wonderful books, however this is not printed in the original cursive writing. If you want the cursive you will need to find an older or vintage copy. Delightful.

The digital version was bought to replace a lost hard copy. The copy editing in this digital version is atrociously bad. I noticed at least 20 grammatical / spelling errors,and many of the original words / phrases have been changed / 'updated'. Even my 6 year old child commented on the bad grammar which is an insult to Jean De Brunhoff's wonderful writing style. The digital version needs to be revised with careful attention to the original, as this is why people buy such books, or else customers should be offered a full refund (I'll be asking for one).

This Kindle version had the lovely illustrations from the original book, which made it a delight to read to my small, non reader, child. The translation from French was a little dodgy but it is written to read easily aloud. It is great to have something very portable to carry on journeys.

livre anglophone relié rigide très grand format récent (2002/1992) présentant une des "aventures" du célèbre héros créé par J de Brunhoff et repris par son fils; dans cet épisode, Babar et Céleste partent faire leur voyage de noces en ballon, s'échouent sur une île déserte et ne retrouvent leur caiptale qu'après de multiples aventures; cet épisode est un des plus anciens et attachants; ce grand classique de la littérature enfantine célébrant le mythe de l'orphelin étranger qui émigre dans un pays riche, fait fortune et revient sur sa terre natale pour y être couronné roi ne peut renier son époque d'origine: le vingtième siècle occidental et colonialiste triomphant imbu de sa supériorité sur les sauvages; tout cela est affaire d'adultes et n'empêchera pas les tout-petits d'apprécier ces histoires au moment du coucher; cette édition récente cartonnée Hachette jeunesse de format confortable et au papier de qualité sera parfaite pour compléter ou renouveler une collection dont les ouvrages ont subi les outrages du temps et des nombreuses menottes entre lesquelles ils sont passés

luv Babarbut this book does not have nice colorful pucs for toddlers!