By Jean de Brunhoff (Egmont)
ISBN: 978-1-4052-3820-5
Jean de Brunhoff’s beautiful, whimsical characters return in Babar’s Travels (first published in France in 1932 as Le Voyage de Babar). Newly crowned King and just married to Celeste, Babar and his bride set off on honeymoon in a glorious yellow balloon only to be trapped in a terrible storm and blown to an island where they are attacked by savages.
In an era where it seems any journalist or lawyer with an eye to the main chance seems to lurk outside bookshops or libraries waiting to scream “Foul!â€, it’s heartening to see a publisher respect the historical context of old material from less-enlightened times without bowdlerising the content. Kids today don’t pick up racist or sexist attitudes from books about talking animals, they get them from other people, so it’s great that Egmont are prepared to risk a potential publicity storm here.
Rescued by a friendly whale, Babar and Celeste are once again marooned before being picked up by an ocean-going liner and mistakenly sold to a circus. Meanwhile back at home mischievous young cousin Arthur has played a trick on Rataxes the Rhinoceros which has terrible consequences.
Escaping from the circus, Babar and Celeste make their way to the house of the Old Lady who first befriended Babar long ago (The Story of Babar, ISBN: 978-1-4052-3818-2). She takes them in, and they all go on a skiing holiday before Babar invites her to join them in the land of Elephants. But when they arrive they find Arthur’s pranks have provoked a war with the Rhinoceros’ which has ravaged the country! Now King Babar must save his nation from defeat by a mighty foe…
These are immortal children’s tales, gloriously illustrated and winningly told. They combine adventure and comfort in equal measure, thrilling children without frightening them, displaying values of boldness, ingenuity and fraternity by simply using them to entertain.
2008 Edition. All Rights Reserved.