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Babar and the Succotash Bird

Name: Babar and the Succotash Bird
Author: Laurent de Brunhoff
ISBN: 9780810957008

by Laurent de Brunhoff

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Overview

One night on his terrace, Alexander is greeted by a strange and exotic bird. The young elephant is delighted to discover the brightly colored creature is a wizard. The bird entertains Alexander with his magic and promises to visit him again soon.

The following day on a family outing, Alexander sees a similar bird flying overhead. Sure that it must be his wizard, he races after it, eager to see more magic. But Alexander quickly learns that things are not always as they appear.

Laurent de Brunhoof's warm and enchanting watercolors bring to life the world of Babar and his family, who have captivated and charmed readers since 1931.

A beautiful bird with sparkling colors and magical powers visits Babar's son, Alexander, in the middle of the night.

Synopsis

Laurent de Brunhoof's warm and enchanting watercolors bring to life the world of Babar and his family, who have captivated and charmed readers since 1931.

Publishers Weekly

In de Brunhoff's rather awkwardly paced picture book, the first in more than seven years, Babar's son Alexander embarks on a nighttime adventure with a magical bird and gets caught between benevolent and malevolent forces. Unable to sleep, Alexander goes to the terrace and discovers "a beautiful bird with sparkling colors" that calls itself a wizard and cries "Succotash!" Alexander swings "pleasantly back and forth, left and right" through the air with the bird (though in the accompanying painting Alexander seems to be falling off the terrace), but his siblings don't believe the fellow's report of the nocturnal events. The next morning, the family sets out on a hiking trip, which occasions some of the volume's most charming paintings as Babar, Celeste and their tribe head uphill and take refuge from inclement weather on the mountaintop. When a second wine-colored wizard bird shows up (also crying "Succotash!"), Alexander mistakes it for his new friend, and the fowl transforms Alexander into a giant, then reduces him to a size smaller than a squirrel. Here the narrative begins to lurch: the hero's family seems to take no notice of his gargantuan size; a diminutive Alexander falls backward into a lake that was not in evidence before. Paintings of the tiny fellow falling end-over-end from a grassy bank toward some lily pads below or "lost in an ivy forest" offer welcome respite from overblown spreads of the hero's rescue (with parachutes and helicopters to boot) and the conflict between the two birds. When de Brunhoff focuses on the family and the dynamics between them, his work shines. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) FYI: De Brunhoff is the subject of a Q&A on p. 194. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Children's Literature

Babar's son Alexander meets up with a Succotash Bird and learns that all is not what it seems. This gold and red magical bird flies overhead while Alexander stands out on his terrace one evening. The bird explains he is a wizard and offers the elephant the choice of two games. Alexander chooses swing-swing, whereupon he swings back and forth in midair. The next day, while hiking in the mountains with his two sisters, brother, mother and father, Alexander meets a bird that he thinks is the same wizard because it too says "succotash." But this is a bad wizard who makes Alexander too big and then too small. The tiny elephant tries to get back to his family while his family searches for him. Finally the good wizard returns Alexander to his regular size and punishes the bad bird by making him small as a mouse. The lesson is that life is like succotash, good mixed with bad. The watercolor illustrations are colorful and lively, and the bright wizard bird's first appearance in the blue-gray sky is particularly striking. Alexander's journey over land and sea when he is smaller than a squirrel is also quite dramatic. 2000, Harry N. Abrams, $16.95. Ages 4 to 7. Reviewer: Carol Raker Collins

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3-When Babar's son Alexander wanders out onto the terrace one night, he meets an exotic, brightly colored bird. With a call of "Tash! Succotash!" and the ability to speak, this is obviously no ordinary creature. It is, in fact, a friendly wizard. The next day, while out on a hike with his family, Alexander meets another magical bird with a similar cry and assumes it is his new friend. Unfortunately, it is a mischief-making wizard who first enlarges and then shrinks the poor, misled Alexander. While his family, with the assistance of their old friend Cornelius, frantically searches for him, the good wizard arrives and saves the day. He cautions, "Remember, Alexander, don't jump to conclusions. There's more than one bird who can call `Succotash!' That is how life is-right mixed with wrong. Like succotash: lima beans cooked up with corn." While the premise is odd (wizards in the guise of birds) and the point that things are not always what they seem is slightly belabored and obvious, children will flock to this new adventure in the "Babar" chronicles.-Piper L. Nyman, Fairfield/Suisun Community Library, Fairfield, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.