Histoire De Babar (French Edition)

Babar, known globally as "King of the Elephants," first appeared in the much different world of 1931. Europe then found itself still recovering from what would later become known as "The First World War." Explicit colonialism and its often barbaric ethos still reverberated throughout the world. Also, the effects of the aggressively punitive 1919 Treaty of Versailles had begun to form the roots of an unimaginably horrific war soon to come. While Jean de Brunhoff released Babar in France, the Nazis became the second largest political party in Germany, "Mein Kampf" took on bestseller status and Hitler's future prospects looked strong. He promised to "Make Germany Mighty Again." Brunhoff died of tuberculosis in 1937 and missed some of the twentieth century's most violent years, but he managed to produce six more Babar volumes. Many credit his wife, Cecile, for the actual creation of the character, but she never claimed credit herself, apparently because she thought she hadn't played a significant enough role. Creation of the character seems like a fairly significant role, but to each their own.The simple and somewhat tragic "Histoire de Babar" started it all. Reading the book in its original French makes for an even better experience for those with at least beginner to intermediate knowledge. The story begins with Babar's birth and infancy, his mother's care and her shocking death at the hands of "un vilain chasseur" after only a few pages. Babar flees and eventually finds a "ville" with "tant de maisons." There, he finds that he greatly admirers the ways of humans, at least western humans, and thinks "Je voudrais bien avoir aussi un beau costume..." "Une vieille dame très riche," who "aimait beaucoup les petits éléphants," senses Babar's unfulfilled desires and simply hands over "son porte-monnaie" to an elephant that she has never before met. Babar goes on a shopping spree at "le grand magasin," rides the "ascenseur" a few too many times and purchases his iconic "costume d'une agréable couleur verte" along with some now dated fashion accessories, such as "un beau chapeau melon" and "des souliers avec des guêtres." Babar lives with "la vieille dame," tells stories of "la grande forêt" and seems overall content, but he misses his life with the elephants. That's when "Arthur et Céleste," Babar's "petit cousin" and "cousine," suddenly appear, "tout nus," after "deux années." They reunite, Babar buys then "beaux costumes," they eat "bons gâteaux," some of which resemble "Capezzoli di Venere," and back home "dans la grande forêt", an anguished search for "Arthur et Céleste" begins. Even "les singes" help out. Here the story takes a dramatic turn.Eventually, "un vieux marabout" spots the young runaway "éléphants" and notifies "les mamans d'Arthur et de Céleste." The "bien contentes" yet angry mothers find the now fully clothed young "éléphants" in "la ville." Babar makes the understandable but difficult decision to return to his first home with all of "les éléphants." Saying goodbye to "la vieille dame," "il lui promet de revenir" and "la vieille dame" watches wistfully as Babar's auto, with two "éléphants courent derrière et lèvent leurs trompes pour ne pas respirer la poussière," and thinks "quand reverrai, je mon petit Babar?" That same day, the current "roi des éléphants" eats a "mauvais champignon" and quickly expires. That makes two deaths in a short children's book. Times were once bolder or less protective, apparently. Luckily for Babar, but not so much for the now dead "roi," when Babar returns to "la forêt," "les éléphants" offer him the vacant "éléphant" throne. He accepts, but also proclaims that, "pendant notre voyage en auto, Céleste et moi nous nous sommes fiancés." In other words, Babar will marry his "cousine." Well, he is royalty. Babar requests "une grande fête pour notre mariage et notre couronnement." All "les animaux" attend and "tout le monde danse de bon cœur." Happiness descends on "la grande forêt" and then "Babar et Céleste" board "un superbe ballon jaune" and set out for "nouvelles aventures." Who smells a sequel?Similar to other famous works that endure through multiple decades, Babar has both maintained its fantastic reputation and received criticism as a potential colonialist narrative. The book arguably insinuates that the human lifestyle, specifically from the western or European perspective, stands superior over the more "wild" and "tout nus" animal lifestyle. For some, this opens the book up to an imperialist and "European supremacy" interpretation. The book doubtlessly reflects the ethos of its age and takes its inherited social framework for granted. Such things are good to point out and to keep in mind, but readers can also simply enjoy the funny and silly story as a fabulous tale of an anthropomorphic elephant adventure. For those looking for a good resource to learn French, the language of "Histoire de Babar" remains fairly simple throughout. Only basic verb forms, "présent," "passé composé," "imparfait" and "futur," appear. The vocabulary presents no difficulties that "un dictionnaire" can't address. A more challenging piece appears at book's end, called "Mon père de Jean de Brunhoff," by Laurent de Brunhoff, and requires a higher level of French than the main story. Though interesting, readers can skip this epilogue until their French improves. "Histoire de Babar," now a classic in many languages, provides a great read from multiple perspectives: a great children's book, a great French learner's book, an encapsulation of its time and an unforgettable tale recognized the world over. "Longue vie au roi!"

On a toujours adoré les histoires de Babar, de génération en génération.. Maintenant ça va être au tour de mon petit garçon de les découvrir !!!!!!!

I bought it for a neighbor child whose mother speaks French and wants to raise him to be bi-lingual. I read the book -- my French is at least that good, but no better. Now the book is mine and I'm going to buy something else for that cute little neighbor-child. :-)

Well I was reminded that the mother gets shot and killed at the beginning of the story. I had this as a child and must have forgotten.

Great book for my little boy to learn FrenchGreat shipping from a small store

I love to read anything in French and read it in French and translate it as we go along to my granddaughters, who are sometimes interested. It's a charmer of a book and I enjoy it all alone. always hoping that one day I'll get a response from one of those girls

I recommend this for French speaking children in lower elementary grades, and for adults who are learning French. I hope to share this with children in Haiti.

this is a great book for learning to read french

Book size is small

Acheté dans un élan de nostalgie... celui la en premier pour introduire le reste de la série.Mais le monde a bien changé depuis !J'aurai bien du mal à expliquer à mon enfant:- la fuite de Babar-le-migrant,- le fait qu'il soit "tout nu" car pas habillé à l'occidentale,-la découverte comme un débile des grands magasins,- le financement par une vieille dame (Babar, gigolo) et le fait qu'il soit "montré", pour prouver l'ouverture à l'autre, montré comme une curiosité à la société...- l'occidentalisarion de sa famille quand celle ci le rejoint "en ville"- les échanges de bons procédés : "tu me nommés roi et je fais de toi le général de mes armées"...- se marier avec sa cousine ...Bref.Livre vraiment instructif pour un adulte qui veut voir le décalage entre l'éducation d'hier et celle d'aujourd'hui mais plus vraiment pour les enfants...

I bought this book based on the "Look Inside", which showed a relatively simple font for the text. However, the paperback version that was delivered instead has the text in a fairly hard-to-decipher cursive font that my 7/8 year-old cannot read. If you are expecting your child to be able to read this, stick to the digital version which might at least have the right font (and is easier to return if not).

... was what a racist, colonialist story is the story of Babar. Did not pick up on that as a child, but now see it very clearly. Seriously, the "animal" goes to the city and becomes "civlized" among the humans, who killed his own mother. Then this gentrified creature returns to rule the unwashed masses, and marries his cousin? Somebody "cancel" Babar already!

The cursive writing makes it hard for beginners to understand....BUT, the pics are VERY good, and after reading it to them, my children could tell me the story themselves!! Bravo, Babar!!