Barbapapa?

Does anyone have this book or is familiar with it? I stumbled across this 1970 hard cover edition at the thrift store recently. I didn't think much of it, but I like books from that time period, so I bought it. It cost me a whole quarter. I took it home, read it, and then was surprised how cute it was. I decided to do a little sleuthing around, only to learn that the book was part of a series that began in France in the 1970s.

If you would like to learn more about Barbapapa, click here for what Wikipedia says. There is also a Barbapapa website that gives more information, but I don't think you can buy the books directly from there. Click here to check out the website.

I knew nothing about this book series, character, or even that there were cartoons and comic books created. Some of my friends were familiar with it, and one of them says she still has her copy of the book. That's pretty cool. The copy I have has a 1970 copyright, but I don't think it's a first edition.

I don't want to give out too much of the story — just in case you want to check it out for yourself — but it is basically about this blob-like thing that was supposedly born a family's garden. He grew and grew, but became too big for the family to keep, so he gets moved around from place to place. That's all I'll say, but I will add it has a happy ending. That's good. I always love happy endings.