Do we like them?

Do we like Babar the Elephant?

A character from The Story of Babar (1931)

Our score: 8 out of 10. Kind, curious and a fair-minded leader. He's easy to back, though the old books carry colonial-era baggage that's no fault of his own.

Babar is a young elephant created by Jean de Brunhoff. The first book, Histoire de Babar, came out in France in 1931. It grew from a bedtime story that his wife Cécile told their sons. It was a hit, and A.A. Milne produced an English version in 1933.

Babar is polite, quick to learn and good-natured. He's curious about the human world and wants to bring the best of it home. The books are gentle and stylish, with Babar as a calm, decent figure who tries to do right by those around him.

In the first book, Babar's mother is killed by a hunter and he runs away to a city. A rich Old Lady takes him in and he picks up human ways. He later goes home, is made king of the elephants, and marries his cousin Celeste. His son Laurent de Brunhoff kept the series going from 1946.

We score him an 8. He's warm, loyal and a sensible ruler. We take a little off because the series reflects the attitudes of its time, which led Laurent to ask for one book to be withdrawn and led one UK library service to pull another in 2012.