One day Barbapapa wondered if his tiny house was large enough for the entire Barba-family. Considering that he could barely fit in it by himself, the answer was decidedly no.

Their friend Frank told them about a beautiful abandoned house which was in need of some work. The whole family joined in to clean and repair their new house, taking the forms of such useful implements as vacuum cleaners and garden hoses

They lived very happily together in their big old house until it was decided (by whom, we are not told) that the old houses on the street must be destroyed to make way for more modern builings. Large cranes, unmanned by human entities, maliciously destroyed the Barbapapas’ house.

Everyone was very sad, and the family moved into a city apartment. Finding the cramped quarters of their new apartment unfitting, the Barbafamily headed out to the countryside to search for a new home.

This time, the Barbapapa family all worked together to build their new home in their own special Barbapapa way. This entailed using a special "Barba-plastique" to form the rooms of the house around the Barbapapas themselves.

Each Barbababy had his or her own room:

Barbabeau needed the strong north light, as artists do.

Barbalala designed a music room, and Barbabelle had comfy cushions and curtains.

Barbabright planned a special place for his telescope.

Barbazoo made room for his animal friends, and Barbalib for her bookcases.

Barbabravo only needed space to do his exercise.

Apparently, no one found the need for a bed.

The Barbapapas lived in peace and harmony for some time, until the evil unmanned wrecking machines returned to menace them in their country home!

But this time the Barbapapas weren’t going to take such harsh treatment complacently. Instead, they launched a relentless attack of cannon balls made with their specially formulated Barba-plastique. Of course, they made the cannon balls the consistency of chewing gum so as not to hurt the poor evil machines...they only gummed up the works enough to prevent their home from being demolished.

The machines left in a sticky retreat and the family celebrated their victory with a Barbaparty and a restful nights sleep safe in their own home.