Product Description

An all-new Babar book with tremendous crossover appeal!

Includes a free pull-out poster!

Following the phenomenal success of Babar's Yoga for Elephants, here is an all-new Babar story. Everyone who loves art, Babar, or children will love Babar's Museum of Art.

The old train station in Celesteville stands empty--should it be torn down? "No!" declare Celeste and Babar, who decide to turn it into an art museum. Their children (like many young museum-goers) have a lot of questions about art: "Does it have to be pretty? Does it have to be old? Does it have to make sense?" Celeste's patient answers explain the basic ideas of art appreciation.

Babar and Celeste's generous donations to the new museum include witty and striking elephant-inspired version of Michelangelo's Creation of Man, George Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, and Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus, along with many other celebrated paintings. Children and adults will want to visit Babar's Museum of Art again and again!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #159853 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 48 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780810945975
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
On one of their weekly balloon flights over Celesteville, Babar and Celeste notice that the railroad station is standing empty. Elephants, it seems, now prefer cars over trains. Interestingly, although Babar comments on the roads "jammed with traffic," he and his queen decide to focus on the other issue--the abandoned station. Celeste comes up with an idea to turn it into a museum to house their art collection, and soon an architect is drawing up plans and workers are renovating the building. When the great day of the opening arrives, what a show! The royal couple had acquired some pretty impressive and well known works of art--all featuring elephants, of course. Laurent de Brunhoff outdoes himself with the real-life art-inspired paintings and sculptures, from Mary Cassatt’s "Mother and Child" to Edvard Munch’s "The Scream" to Leonardo da Vinci’s "Mona Lisa." Young art buffs will enjoy the very age-appropriate art appreciation lessons, as the children are encouraged! to say whatever they want about the art: "I like this picture because it’s red," says Arthur about Van Gogh’s "Self-Portrait." When pedantic Cornelius tries to pontificate, Celeste gently hushes him. Includes a free pull-out poster. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-With the help of an architect and friends, Babar and Celeste decide to establish a museum in the old Celesteville train station and donate their extensive art collection. Readers follow along as de Brunhoff's lighthearted offering touches on how such institutions might be created, how to behave in a museum, and art appreciation. Celeste's most valuable instructions for small children: "look, don't touch, and tell me what you see" precedes Babar's timely reminder, "there are no rules to tell us what art is." The Celesteville museum exhibits echo noted artworks from Rubens to Cezanne, Whistler to Pollock, as more than 30 major works (imitated with pachyderm subjects) fill the pages. Consider this an introduction to museums for the youngest readers, especially for Babar fans. Older students will find entertaining comparisons to classic art collections. For a closer pairing with masterworks, share Jacqueline Weitzman's You Can't Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum (Dial, 1998). A fine choice for all libraries.
Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 2. The elephants of Celesteville are delighted when Babar and Celeste open a magnificent art museum, but the royal children are nervous. What happens at museums? How should they behave? As the family walks through the galleries, each member finds favorite works of art. De Brunhoff's words are simple and unpretentious, and they show how personal and subjective art is: "I like this picture because it's red," says one elephant. The Celesteville Museum's walls are filled with gleeful reproductions of famous works (listed in an appendix) that substitute elephants for human figures to hilarious effect. It's adults, not children, who will howl most over the images, but children certainly don't need a background in art history to be delighted by the stories in the art, and they'll immediately recognize the children's questions: "Does everything have to mean something in a picture?" "Does it have to be pretty?" Babar's reassuring answer sends a universal message of art appreciation: "It doesn't have to be or mean anything. There are no rules to tell us what art is." As entertaining as it is instructive, this is a great choice for museum-bound families as well as teachers. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A delightful visit to Babar's Museum of Art
A balloon ride over Celesteville leads to Babar and Celeste deciding to turn in an abandoned train station into a museum in which they can display their great collection of fine paintings. Everyone in town gets more and more excited waiting for the big day when the museum is opened and everyone can see everything that is hanging on the walls inside. The paintings might be intended for the elephants and other animal friends of Babar and Celeste and this book might be intended for younger readers, but the readers who will most enjoy Laurent De Brunhoff's book are going to be those old enough to appreciate the witty elephant-inspired version of great paintings from Michaelangelo's "Creation of Man" and Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" to George Surat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte" and Edvard Munch's "The Scream." There is just something intrinsically enjoyable about taking Leonardi Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" and making the lady with enigmatic smile an elephant, and the idea of doing the same thing with Vincent Van Gogh's "Self Portrait" is hysterical since Babar is an African elephant and not an Indian elephant. The more you know about great art the more you will enjoy strolling through the galleries with Babar and his family. The book also includes a pull-out poster of the delightful art found in "Babar's Museum of Art." The adventures of Babar have been delighting children for half a century and this is a charming addition to the series. It should also inspire its young readers to check out the "real" versions of these great paintings so that they can find out what the adults are chuckling about as they enjoy "Babar's Museum of Art." Is it too early to be thinking about books that would be great to give as gifts to young readers for Christmas? This one should be high up on that list.

wonderful
My wife's parents gave this book to my daughter. I was as delighted as she was! I grew up on Babar. What a lovely children's book! My four year old daughter absolutely adores it. Buy this for the children in your life and they will love it.

Wonderful for preschoolers through elementary children!
Some of us remember having "Babar" books read to us when we were children. This book rekindles those warm thoughts while providing an interesting, entertaining look at art and life.