Babar

Which other authors do you enjoy? Discuss them here.
Post Reply
User avatar
RDMorrell
Posts: 474
Joined: 25 Jun 2007, 10:32
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Secret Seven, Adventure
Favourite character: Anne
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Contact:

Babar

Post by RDMorrell »

Although not a big collector of the Babar books, one of my childhood favourites was Babar Loses His Crown. It was that book that first introduced me to Paris and the Eiffel Tower! :mrgreen: In fact, BLHC constituted my first exposure to French literature of any kind. Another cool Babar book I had as a child (and still have, as a matter of fact) is Babar's Popup Games (not sure if that's the exact title, but pretty close). Among the roughly half-dozen other Babar books I have is a little French volume called Babar musicien. I think my paternal grandmother might have given that one to me.

Of course, there is a rather special connection between Babar and Enid Blyton, in that Enid translated one of the first Babar books (if not the first one) into English! I may be wrong (and probably am), but she might have even introduced Babar to the English-speaking world! Quite amazing if that is in fact the case! I think it may have been her only foray into literary translation (or did she do some other Babar translations?).

So are there any other Babar fans out there, and does anyone actually have a copy of Enid's Babar translation (or is that ultra-rare now)? If so, how do feel she measures up as a literary translator? And which Babar stories do you prefer - the older ones by Jean de Brunhoff or the continuations by Laurent de Brunhoff? I think all my Babar stories are by Laurent de Brunhoff, but I'd love to get some by JDB some day!
Best Regards

ROWAN M.

A room without books is like a body without a soul - Cicero
User avatar
Adventure
Posts: 925
Joined: 08 Jul 2007, 18:40

Re: Babar

Post by Adventure »

User avatar
RDMorrell
Posts: 474
Joined: 25 Jun 2007, 10:32
Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Secret Seven, Adventure
Favourite character: Anne
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
Contact:

Re: Babar

Post by RDMorrell »

Adventure wrote:Check out this page:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/auth ... php?id=417
Thanks for that, although there's not an awful lot of info there, other than the "bare-bones" details (these are still important, of course!). I was interested to see that the title changed to Tales of Babar when it was reprinted. But does anyone know whether it's a translation of the original Babar book, or is it perhaps a compilation of several? :? Thanks again for the link though.
Best Regards

ROWAN M.

A room without books is like a body without a soul - Cicero
Post Reply