The Phantom

Babar

by Laurent de Brunhoff

Illus. in full color. "Babar's family visit to Black Castle finds the

children befriending a ghost who likes them so well that he goes home with them

and raises some eyebrows with his antics. Babar's recognition factor is high,

and it's likely beginning readers will enjoy practicing their new reading

skills in his company."—Booklist.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Animals, France, Halloween, Fantasy

44 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1980

About the author

Laurent de Brunhoff est un auteur et illustrateur français.

Laurent De Brunhoff has kept the spirit of Babar and his family alive for over 50 years. Babar was created by Laurent's mother as a bedtime story, and was first illustrated by Laurent's father, Jean de Brunhoff.

After his father's death, Laurent continued to create over 30 Babar stories.

Laurent de Brunhoff lived in Connecticut with his wife, writer Phyllis Rose.

Reviews

[Roger]

The artwork reminded me of a cross between Richard Scarry and the Curious George books.

A friendly ghost of a former knight, complete with a suit of elephant armor. Nice!! Only the children can see him, but everyone sees the havoc he’s causing.

A fun story.

[Georgina Warren]

In this story, Babar and his family visit a haunted castle. When a ghost follows them home, crazy shenanigans ensue!

[Maxwell Rae]

Wow Babar has been around for 80 years! Mummy said she remembers reading about his adventures when she was a little bubba like me.

[Margaret Chind]

Reprinted and/or excerpt included in Babar's Anniversary Album: 6 Favorite Books.

[Jacqueline Garcia]

The book Babar and the Ghost is a children's literature book written by Laurent De Brunhoff in visual element formats. Visual element formats are when a person sees an object different that what someone may see it. Suddenly the pitcher went up, up, up. It filled the glass with lemonade. Zephir did not answer he was laughing too hard.

So the story is about a family that is having a picnic lunch and then all of a sudden a storm comes out of nowhere. The family ends up in a black castle and the children meet a ghost named Baron Bardula. Only thing is that the children were the only ones that could see the ghost. At the end of the story the ghost ends up going back to the castle because he could not live such a fast paced life.

[Rose Rosetree]

First of all, I'm loving the illustrations by Laurent. I think he's outdone himself in his book.

As always, his text flows with apparent effortlessness, telling a full story through a smallish number of uncomplicated sentences.

Regarding that story, King Babar is certain that there is no such thing as a ghost. Will he be proved right?

That ghost tells the children his name, and his story. He even shows the young elephants his picture. Then that ghost accepts their invitation to return with them to Celesteville, so he won't have to be lonely any longer.

Once everyone is back home, in Celesteville, only the children can see that ghost and, yes, some mild mischief ensues.

However, a rather ingenious ending leaves everybody happy. What a world!

[Sally]

A very cute book for early readers. Babar and family go on a picnic near an old castle. When a rainstorm comes up they rush inside where the kids meet a ghost, the Baron. They have such fun with him that they invite him back to their house and he causes trouble, mowing over flowers and driving a car (adults can't see him). All the activity tires him out so he goes back to his ruins where the kids say they'll visit often.

[ColumbusReads]

Classic Babar! I loved this cover and loved the little story even more. Never a dull moment with this elephant in Celesteville. My 4-yr old charge was not as impressed. He said the ghost was a little scary to him even though he liked the illustrations and other parts of the story. So should my review reflect the fact I loved it a lot or his lukewarm review? Oh, he'll come around.

5 stars

[Cara Byrne]

This book teaches that ghosts - even ghosts of barons - can be friendly and helpful, though it may be tough to convince grown ups that they exist. This book feels like it is from another time and was not very interesting to my five-year-old, though my 1-year-old loved the images of elephants and monkey.

[Shannon]

My kid likes this one, but I'm not a huge fan. Baron Bardula (the ghost) plays pranks on the adults to the amusement of the children. I'm just not a fan of pranks, especially when he's doing things like ruining the flower bed and causing car accidents! I can see how this would appeal to a child though--a secret world of imagination that the adults are excluded from.

[Jenna]

Hivenen jännittävä Babar-kertomus, jossa Babar seurueineen vaeltaa Mustaan linnaan tuoden sieltä mukanaan Celestevilleen aaveen. Kummituksen voivat nähdä vain lapset, siitäkös ilo otetaan irti Celestevillessä!

[Javier Trost]

A fun little story that brings out the kid in all of us. The illustrations do all of the work of telling the story. They are filled with comedy and emotion. I would recommend Babar and the Ghost to younger children possible between the 5 and 7 year old range. It's harmless fun and silly.

[Danielle T]

Babar and his family shelter from a storm in a spooky castle, where the children find a ghost only they can see, hijinks ensue. I do not remember the finer points of Babar lore so we'll have to circle back (I think this was on a Halloween display)

[Mellanie C]

Babar's children encounter a ghost.

[Linda]

A cute story intended for beginning readers. A rained out picnic leads the family to a castle where the children encounter a ghost. When he comes home with them, antics begin.

[Lorraine]

Good pictures, lots of text that's just a bit challenging for the first grader.

Features a ghost only visible to kids.

[Anthony]

When a ghost by the name of Baron Bardula follows the children back to Celesteville and starts to play tricks on its inhabitants, Babar must take action to restore order.

[Gina]

Pretty fun story with no real peril. It is a bit wordy, but not unlike the other Babar books.

[Amy]

I got this from the library by accident. It is one of the ones by the son of the original Babar author. It was a fine story and pictures but it ended abruptly.

[Lucy G]

What a silly ghost! At least he learned his lesson!

[Alex Deats]

I thought this was kind of cheesy. When I see a ghost story I want to be spooked. In this story the whole group goes on a hike when it is about to storm. they take refuge in a castle to wait out the storm. The children find a ghost in a suit of armor and play with him. no one believes them when they said they found a ghost. I thought it was cheesy when they found the ghost again and it just plays nice with them and doesn't spook them. The ghost goes back to town with them, takes lemonade pitchers, plays hide and seek, and then leaves to go back to his castle. The illustrations were kind of plain and boring. I did like the pops of color in the town though. I also like the outfits they all wear. The end pages have elephants running with a ghost which gives the reader a sneak peek at what is to come.

[Drew]

•Brief summary
Babar and his crew are going on a hike while on the hike it gets really stormy. So they decide to stay the night in a near by castle. There is no such thing as a ghost right? Well thats not the case in this story, the ghost even comes back to town with them the next morning.

•Audience
prabably 1st or 2nd grade

•Appeal
The Ghost in the story gets the attention of the kids, its a old favorite. The pictures are simple so not over whelming.

•Implementation
I would keep this in my classroom from entertainment its a good book for a child to group on their own.

Brunhoff, L. d. (1986). Babar and the ghost (An easy-to-read version. ed.). New York: Random House.

[Rebecca]

A little light Halloween reading.

[Cws]

JEAR2-DeB

[Rishmi]

Yay! Babar!

[Rachael]

Cute Babar book for independent reading.

[Yasmin]

My first favorat book of Babar I red it 80 times and I still reed it

[Olivia]

I learned that I should not tell lies. This was a good book.