Babar's USA

Celebrate Babar as he celebrates America!

An all-new Babar book featuring photos of the USA collaged with original Babar illustrations for an exciting tour of modern America

In a new picture book featuring the internationally beloved and bestselling Babar, the lovable elephant and his family travel across the United States. Using collage—watercolor illustrations were pasted onto digital photographs—to put the characters directly into real-life scenes, Laurent de Brunhoff takes Babar and his family around the country to see the sights, from New York, where they see such icons as the Brooklyn Bridge and FAO Schwarz; to Memphis, Tennessee, where they see Graceland; to Key West, Florida, where they enjoy the beach; to Wyoming, where they see Yellowstone National Park; and to California, where they see the La Brea Tar Pits, the Golden Gate Bridge, and more; and to everywhere in between.

The innovative format and clever design are perfect complements to the reissue of Babar Comes to America. Readers new and familiar will revisit this volume to see the sights and will be inspired to pack their trunks and head out across the country.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2

De Brunhoff's cast of characters tours the USA, photographically documented by Zephir, the monkey. Babar's family spends a lot of time with their friends in New York City, visiting familiar places like Times Square, FAO Schwarz, and Central Park. Cornelius is impressed by the city's diversity, which, young Pom explains, means that here, "We don't look weird." Heading west, they are amazed by the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, and enjoy other stops including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hawaii, Chicago, and Washington, DC. Along the way, they make wry observations about how Americans talk ("No problem," "Have a good day") and behave (optimistically, high-spirited), concluding that "Anything you say about the USA may be true, and the opposite may be true, too, because it is such a big country...." The illustrations were done using watercolor cutouts placed on digital photographs, creating an unusual but appealing effect. While the prose is clear and simple, the itinerary is at times confusing, as the entourage jumps from coast to coast. An appendix identifies the sites by page number, although the pages of the book itself are not numbered. No matter, Babar fans will welcome the family's latest outing.-Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI

Laurent de Brunhoff has kept the spirit of Babar and his family alive for more than 50 years. Originally created by Laurent’s mother as a bedtime story, Babar the elephant first came to life through the art of Laurent’s father, Jean de Brunhoff, who produced seven books about the character before his untimely death. Building on his father’s original framework, Laurent has gone on to provide many new adventures for the elephant family while giving them new spirit through his use of line and color. Laurent de Brunhoff lives in Connecticut with his wife, writer Phyllis Rose.