BABAR AND THE GHOST

A trifling addition to the once-auspicious series. Babar & Co. hike to Black Castle, reputed to be haunted. There, the children make the acquaintance of Baron Bardula, an honest-to-goodness, friendly ghost—who returns with them to Celesteville and, invisible to the grownups, plays assorted pranks (pouring lemonade, pushing the lawn mower, etc.) until Babar, skeptically addressing the unseen presence, bids him return to his castle. And the next day Bardula, professing to be tired out, does just that. Except for an occasional drawing which conjures up remembered delights of Celesteville life (almost reduced, now, to the omnipresence of people-like elephants), a feeble variation on a very stock situation.