Babar and Father Christmas

Babar sets out to find Father Christmas in this seventh picture-book from Jean de Brunhoff - published in 1940 as Babar et le père Noël, it was the final original Babar book, with all subsequent titles either written by de Brunhoff's son, Laurent, or by ghost-writers - intent upon asking him to include the land of the elephants in his annual Christmas voyage. Traveling to Europe, where he hopes to find the seasonal gift-giver, Babar follows a number of false leads before finally tracking his quarry down at his mountainside cavern dwelling in Bohemia (near the village of PRJMNESWE). Although disappointed to learn that Father Christmas already has a full schedule for Christmas Eve, and cannot fit the elephants into his gift-giving trip, show more Babar does convince him to vacation in the land of the elephants, successfully setting up a seasonal relationship.

I had mixed feelings about Babar and Father Christmas, which marks the end of my recent Babar reading project - after the initial title, The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant, was chosen recently as a selection for The Picture Book Club to which I belong, I decided to read all of Jean de Brunhoff's original stories. I enjoyed aspects of it - the artwork, as usual, was charming, and I particularly liked the cross-section view of Father Christmas's vast underground complex - but overall, I found the story somewhat disjointed and unappealing. The colonialist themes, to which some have objected (Should We Burn Babar?, etc.), were very much in evidence here, as Babar once again sets out to imitate European customs, even going so far as to journey to Europe itself, in order to fetch them back to his own home country, but there was nothing that was as egregiously offensive as some of the themes in The Travels of Babar (the low point of the series, in my estimation). That said, there was little that really spoke to me, or made a strong favorable impression. Babar's new canine companion, Duck, was a rather cute addition to the cast, I suppose, and I liked some of the visuals. All in all, this was somewhere between two and three stars for me, and a rather lackluster ending to the series. show less

This book has all the lively and humorous features of all the other Babar the Elephant tales, the brightly colored, warm, and friendly drawings of our beloved elephant royalty, the antics and escapades of the elephants themselves, and, of course, our hero, King Babar once again, saving the day, in this book, a most important day, Christmas!

Arthur, Pom, Flora, Alexander, the royal elephant children, and their monkey pal, Zephir, write Father Christmas a wish list letter and are saddened when he doesn't reply; this ultimately leads to Babar's realization that the Elephants' Country needs to be on included on his regular route, so he goes to valiant lengths to make his childrens' wishes come true. Babar and Father Christmas become fast show more friends, and Father Christmas even takes a much-needed rest in the tropical climate of Babar's country. The way de Brunhoff has drawn Father Christmas is quirky and fun and a bit different from the image we have of him today, but it entirely captures the essence of this beautiful holiday icon. If you have loved other Babar stories, you will surely love it as I did. If this is your first meeting with Babar, it stands alone well. show less

When Babar learns about Father Christmas he leaves to find him and invite him to visit the children of the Kingdom of the Elephants. He shows persistence and resourcefulness in his search which is rewarding for him and Father Christmas - and a good life for a little dog too.

Like the others. Deadpan, strange, kind of violent, wonderful illustrations.

This book was originally published in 1940 and the end notes tell us that it was the last one written by Jean de Brunhoff before his untimely death at age 37. The story and line drawings were finished but the illustrations still needed to be colored. Jean's brother took care of that with the help of Jean's son who was only 12 years old when his father died. I like the fact that Jean's son had a hand in the coloring of this wonderful story of a father's love and special efforts on behalf of his children at Christmastime.
This book has all the lively and humorous characteristics of the other Babar the Elephant stories, the brightly colored, warm and friendly drawings of our beloved elephant royalty, the antics and adventures of the show more elephants themselves and of course, our hero, King Babar once again, saving the day, in this book, a most important day, Christmas!
Arthur, Pom, Flora and Alexander, the royal elephant children , together with their monkey pal, Zephir, write Father Christmas a wish list letter and are disappointed when they don't get a reply. This ultimately leads to Babar's realization that the Elephants' Country needs to be included in Santa's regular route, so he goes to heroic lengths to make his childrens' wishes come true. Babar and Father Christmas become fast friends and Father Christmas even gets to take a much needed rest in the tropical climate of Babar's country. The way de Brunhoff has drawn Father Christmas is quirky and jolly and rather different from the image we have of him today but entirely captures the essence of this wonderful holiday icon. If you have loved other Babar stories you are sure to love it as I did. If this is your first meeting with Babar, it stands alone well. show less

Everyone's favorite elephant is on a special Christmas mission. Its time to go out, leave the Elephants' Country, find Father Christmas & ask him to deliver gifts to all the Elephants' Country children. Can Babar do it? Will he find Father Christmas in time? This is a job big enough for only the King of the Elephants to handle. =)

The usual charming story about Babar, King of the Elephant Country, who is searching for Father Christmas to invite him to visit the Elephant children, as he has never done so before.
Some wording may be problematic these days, and Babar smokes.

You will have to read this aloud even to older kids, because no one learns cursive writing anymore.

The print in this miniature is also very small, and was difficult for my old eyes.

(Dates for most recent reading.)