Babar and Father Christmas

Babar #7

by Jean de Brunhoff

Every child's favorite elephant, Barbar, returns in this unusual and heartwarming Christmas story.

Babar's children have caught wind of a fellow in Man's country named Father Christmas who brings joy and toys to little children. "If only we could bring him here," they wish. So they write the Christmas saint a letter inviting him to visit them. When they get no reply, Babar, ever the good father, rushes out to find the red-suited one. After much searching, and with the help of a dog named Duck, Babar reaches Father Christmas's workshop in the snow. Can Babar find a way to bring him to Elephants' country?

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books, Childrens, Holiday, Classics, Fiction, France

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

Jean de Brunhoff was a French writer and illustrator known for co-creating Babar, which first appeared in 1931. The stories were originally told to their second son, Mathieu, when he was sick, by his wife Cecile de Brunhoff. After its first appearance, six more titles followed. He was the fourth and last child of Maurice de Brunhoff, a successful publisher, and his wife Marguerite. He attended Protestant schools, including the prestigious L'Ecole Alsacienne. Brunhoff joined the army and reached the front lines when World War I was almost over. Afterwards, he decided to be a professional artist and studied painting at Academie de la Grand Chamiere. He married Ceccile Sabourand, a talented pianist from a Catholic family, in 1924.
Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. After his death, Hachette bought the printing and publishing rights to the Babar series, and ten years later Jean's eldst son, Laurent, took on his late father's role of writing and illustrating the series. The first seven Babar albums were reprinted and millions of copies were sold all around the world, but they were all abridged; they had 30 pages instead of the original 48. The Babar books are thought to be a way for Brunhoff to share himself with his family. Many people did not notice the 10 year gap, as Laurent also showed exceptional talent in drawing elephants. De Brunhoff and his wife are buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many books from the 30s and 40s, this book is very long and wordy. This story takes time.

The interesting thing about this book is that the story of Santa is all different. Santa lives in Bohemia. Babar is on a quest to find Santa and invite him to the kingdom of elephants. He goes all over looking for him, but not the North Pole. In Bohemia he finds Santa living under ground. He is so tired that Babar invites him to his country to be in the sun and get back to health. Jean goes off script and just makes up his own stuff. It's interesting. Each country has different traditions for sure and that's interesting to see.

We read this to the kids and it did confuse them. We smoothed it out by talking about the author's license to make up a story the way she wants too. The nephew didn’t like how long it was and the niece wasn't too into this story either. They both ended up giving the book 2 stars.

[Hilary · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have read this book many times before but still really enjoyed the story and beautiful illustrations.

Babar sets off to find father christmas and ask him if he could bring presents for the children of the land of elephants. His travels unite him with a stray dog and together they track down the home of father christmas, meet some mountain dwarves and see the places where the presents are kept. Father Christmas comes for a holiday in the land of elephants and passes on some equipment for Babar to continue the work of distributing toys in his own land.

This is a lovely big book, lots of really interesting and beautiful illustrations. We love the colours used and the cream paper it is printed on and the use of a grey background on some pages so that snow can be shown. As always with Babar books we like the use of the handwritten letters for typeface.

[Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations of the elves in this were creepy and the font was cursive handwriting, otherwise good.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful tale about the king of the elephants asking Father Christmas to bring toys to Elephant Country, as well as to the humans, on Christmas Eve.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange little tale of how Babar solves the Santa problem in the land of the elephants. In typically French fashion the story rambles along with interesting little asides like: "Celeste would have liked to go with him, but Babar told her that it would be better if she stayed and ruled the country in his absence, and that mysterious people often did not like to be approached by several people at once." There are lovely little observations like: "One always feels better after a good wash." And "The Professor examined the book carefully, uttering little grunts." There's something quirky about De Brunhoff's stories which give them a certain panache. Long live Babar!

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

#61 in my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.

I like that Pere Noel lives underground in Bohemia, but why do they need Santa to give gifts? Doesn't that seem weird? I am disturbed that Santa is the same size as Babar. That seems excessive. Did the elephant shrink or what?

I want Celeste to have an adventure of her own.

Library copy

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

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, 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 , 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?: Essays on Children's Literature and the Power of Stories , 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.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never read this book before as a child. I liked the illustrations and the type font. It is a lovely story about Christmas.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite illustration in BABAR AND FATHER CHRISTMAS is the double page (pp. 30-31) cross-section drawing of Father Christmas' house under the snow, up in the mountains, "about twelve miles from PRJMNESWE." Recently, when I first saw the cross-section drawings of the underground cities of Cappodocia in Turkey, my first thought was their resemblance to this drawing of Father Christmas' home and workrooms by Jean de Brunhoff. The book was drawn before Brunhoff's death in 1937, and first published in 1940.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was always one of my favorites and it still made me smile after many years. I want to go spend some time in Elephant land.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful addition to the Babar collection, and a beautiful addition to any Christmas collection.

[Shiloah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always appreciate the quality of the writing in the Babar books. Santa lives in an underground palace in this one. He has gnomes and an airplane instead of the usual.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Christmas book of the season. There's a lot of life lessons woven into this story of Babar as he travels the world looking for Father Christmas so that he can bring him back to the Elephant Country with him. I loved the dog named Duck, and how the entire story plays out in such a believable manner given the fantastic nature of the characters. Just lovely!

[Sharni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babar forever! I watch the animated version of this most years - so it was an interesting to see it in its original format. No Rataxes! It's so lovely, I especially love the double page illustration of the family around the Christmas tree.

[Melainebooks]

Babar !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this imaginative Christmas tale from the 1930s, Santa is super metal and lives in a subterranean cave, traveling the world in a flying machine instead of a basic reindeer sleigh. This nuanced santa characterization has more joie de vivre than all the holiday riff movies about him put together. A true marxist, he doesn’t conceal the labor involved in distributing gifts to children, whether human or elephant calf, but ultimately puts his own individual mark on the process, in pursuit of a more equitable Noël. Translated with unparalleled aplomb by my dad, Chris Torem.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admit, I've never quite known what to think about Babar. (Not to mention how to correctly say his name. My husband and I have had hundreds of two arguments about whether it is Ba BAR' [me] or BAB' ar [he].) There is something unaffected about the simplistic colorful drawings and the stylish up-right pachyderm family that really appeals to me. It may stem from the fact that as a child I never owned a Babar book and he was known to me only in a distant, library-check-out sort of relationship. Intellectually, however, I know that these books are really not very well written.

This holiday version is the same: really not very well written, but cute and strangely enticing.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, the elephant children of Elephant Country write to Santa Claus in the hopes that he will visit them just like he visits human children. When Santa expresses that he is too exhausted, Babar offers him the opportunity to relax in Elephant Country so he can recover. After he recovers, Santa still does not visit Elephant Country. Instead, he allows Babar to become the Santa Elephant there, promising to visit the following and all subsequent years. The elephant children receive their Christmas gifts and are very happy in the end.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is in cursive writing. Zephir says that Father Christmas leaves toys in shoes. The friends write Father Christmas a letter and eagerly await a reply. They are sad as they don't receive a response.
Babar finds the cave of Father Christmas and is helped back to health there (an alcohol rub, brandy and hot soup). Father Christmas visits with Babar and his family. He leaves him a real magical Santa suit.

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think we are reaching the point where it it time to start releasing "Classic" Babar stories in editions for adults with historical notes and commentary. While most have to be bowdlerized to meet modern standards of social correctness and I doubt their appropriateness for modern children, they are marvelous as primary source material on French society over a most significant period of the 20th century.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are cute. I never seem to love the actual story in Babar books. This one is about Babar looking for Father Christmas. He finally finds him and asks him to deliver presents to the elephants. Father Christmas says no, he is too tired. So then he and Babar go to Elephant Land so Father Christmas can get some rest and relaxation. I won't tell the ending...

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

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. =)

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute, but a little long for the content. It meanders

I thought I had read all the Babar books when I was younger, but this was unfamiliar and I did not remember Brunhoff writing in the present tense.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very charming story that can be read all year.

[Roland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, Jesus-free Christmas book. Bonus points for a William Jones cameo, which should make linguists cream in their pants.

[Alyssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite Xmas stories!

[Sawy-o · Rating 5 out of 5]

A (quirky) classic!

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Babar meets Father Christmas

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a sweet book written in French that I may try to read aloud to my French 1 students. The illustrations are precious

[Alexandria K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has pretty pictures in it. The story is nice, too.