"If you love elephants, you will love Babar and Celeste," writes A. A. Milne, author of Winnie-the-Pooh, in his preface to The Story of Babar. "And if you have never loved elephants, you will love them now."

After his mother is killed by a hunter, Babar avoids capture by escaping to the city, where he is befriended by the kindly Old Lady. He becomes educated and cultured and, upon his return to the great forest, is crowned King of the Elephants.

Jean de Brunhoff's tales of Babar have charmed readers around the world for 80 years. His stories have followed the king of the elephants as he builds a city, founds a family and even meets Father Christmas. Tested by difficult trials - from snakes to fire to runaway prams - he always comes out on top, with the help of patience, determination and, on one memorable occasion, a flight of winged elephants. One of the most iconic series of animal books in history, Babar has become a household name both as a character in children's books and on TV.

Beautifully illustrated, this edition is an ideal gift for children aged 3 and up.

Also look out for The Babar Collection and Babar the King.

Jean de Brunhoff is considered to be one of the greatest picture book authors in history. Born in Paris, de Brunhoff was the fourth and last child of a successful publisher. He managed to produce a total of seven Babar books before his death at the age of 37. Since then, millions and millions of Babar books have been sold all around the world.

This book is part of a book series called Babar .

This book is at the foundation stage (early years) of the key stage system. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) covers children from birth to age 5 years. A key stage is any of the fixed stages into which the national curriculum is divided, each having its own prescribed course of study. At the end of each stage, pupils are required to complete standard assessment tasks.

There are 48 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2008 by Egmont UK Ltd .

Jean de Brunhoff was a French artist and illustrator who wrote seven books in the Babar the Elephant series. His work had a major influence on the development of the picture book.