ABC de Babar

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-First published in English in 1936, this small alphabet book is newly translated with an afterword by the author's son. The letters appear in upper-and lowercase in both print and script. Many of the cursive shapes, especially the capitals, are quite ornate and may be unfamiliar to American children. Filled with de Brunhoff's familiar watercolor paintings of Babar, Celeste, their children, and their elephant subjects, each double-page spread contains an independent visual story that gives the artist the opportunity to depict several items beginning with the given letter. Word lists in both English and French appear at the end of the book. Although Laurent de Brunhoff's helpful afterword warns readers that some of the items depicted, including an offensive black doll, are no longer in use, and that some items may elude them if they are not familiar with French, this book has limited use for English-speaking children. Apart from the obvious difficulty of the French words, many objects for English words are blends rather than pure consonant sounds: flowers for F, train for T, etc. Or there are several sounds given for one letter, e.g., giraffe and gators for G. While this title may be suitable for those readers wishing to learn French, many will find it confusing.-Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community-Technical College, CT