Babar and Zephir

Originally published in 1936 as Les vacances de Zéphir - alternately translated in English as Zephir's Holidays, Babar's Friend Zephir and Babar and Zephir - this fifth of Jean de Brunhoff's classic picture-books featuring the elephant Babar shifts focus, concentrating on the adventures of the little monkey Zephir, who returns home for the holidays at the beginning of the story. When Princess Isabelle, the daughter of General Huc, goes missing, clever Zephir calls upon the mermaid he has recently caught and set free for help, and sets out on a rescue mission...

Given my mixed reactions to this series thus far - some of the books (The Story of Babar) have left me fairly indifferent, while others (The Travels of Babar) I have actively show more disliked - I was surprised to discover that I really enjoyed Babar and Zephir. Perhaps this is because, despite the title, this is very much Zephir's story, with Babar having little to nothing to do with it. The fairy-tale elements here - the wild creature whom the hero aids, and who aids the hero in return; the quest to rescue the threatened princess - are very appealing, and the artwork is charming. Recommended to Babar fans, with the proviso that Babar himself appears only in one scene. show less

Zephyr is promoted to a full character in his own right; he is no longer the pet monkey given as a gift to the Old Lady at the end of "The Travels of Babar". Polemoche has left a lot of stone people all over his island; he may not be savage, but he is capricious and wicked. Why is the proper reward a betrothal to the "Princess Isabelle"? Why is she a princess anyway, when her father's title is "General" and "President"? The monkeys' village seems very pleasant, one monkey has a mini-castle in the trees, and Zephyr rushes into his mother's arms like a true French boy. The send off at the start of the book, where the monarchs and Zephyr's best friends wave to him as he departs on the train is endearing.

Entirely about Zephir, the funky little monkey who is Babar's sidekick, who goes fishing, ends up on something an awful lot like Easter Island, and who returns home to his joyous family.