Borrowed and thrifted: Barbazoo from the Barbapapas

A friend asked me a while ago if I remembered the Barbapapa books and where she could get some… Of course I do remember this lovable family of characters, who are absolutely quintessential 1970s fun.

Originally published in French by Parisian couple Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, they were published in many languages. The French editions are still in print, but the English ones are not, to the benefit of eBay sellers! It’s hard to score a copy of one of these small staple-bound volumes here for under $40… I was lucky to pick up this copy of The Egg and Barbazoo recently for less – but a lot more than the price on the cover of 10c!

A Netherlands cartoon version of the Barbapapas was also produced and these days the characters have been wholeheartedly adopted in Japan, I found lots of gorgeous merchandise when I was there.

Barbapapas are blob-like shapeshifters. Each member of the family has a different passion and can turn themselves into all manner of useful shapes in line with that passion:  Barbalala loves music, Barbabeau loves art, Barbalib loves books. And Barbazoo? Well he loves animals! And in this story he finds some eggs.

He can’t find who they belong to so he changes himself into a chicken to sit on the eggs… Barbabelle features too…

Simple stories, somewhat quirky text and the brightest of naive illustrations contribute to the overall happy feel. The Barbapapas are also attributed with an environmental messages well before their time. Perhaps this is why they are such sought-after collectors’ items now. Anyone have any copies lurking in their shelves??

For some lovely Barbapapa links, check out these crochet cuties on Meet Me At Mikes and an AMAZING craft project building a house for the family on Playing By the Book.