[217mom Posts: 1,205 Status: Offline "Keep the child in view"- Charles Dickens WWW]

I’m a great fan of the Babar books. I was happy to see this;

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/the-80th-anniversary-of-babar/

The books break many of the kid-lit ‘writerly rules.” Babar is not a child stand-in. He’s more of a father figure. While every story has a happy ending, Babar doesn’t always solve the problem. Sometime it is someone else who does.

{I guess this is another of my back door jabs at ‘rules.’}

I wonder if an editor would have accepted this series today.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABAR!

[yellow_submarine Posts: 113 Status: Offline WWW]

Oh wow, I adored Babar as a kid; whenever I hear the TV show's theme music I get all nostalgic. I had no idea that the books had been around so long!

Happy anniversary Babar! 

[CarrieF Posts: 271 Status: Offline]

My son loved Babar when he was younger. We always skipped over page 3 when reading the book -- the page on which Babar's mother gets shot and killed by hunters. (Gotta love those old books!) One day my brother and sister-in-law were babysitting for the evening and read it to him -- but we hadn't warned them to skip page 3. After that, we had to put the book away for a little while! He still likes to read it once in a while, and has enjoyed the other books too.

Happy Birthday, Babar!

[C.K. Posts: 995 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks for pointing out it was Babar's anniversary. I'm a huge fan. Wish I could see that exhibit in Paris.

[Tina Cho Posts: 102 Status: Offline WWW]

Thanks for sharing, Mirka!
I loved watching the video clip of the interview.
Hooray for Babar! 
~Tina