Fables for children work not by pointing to a moral but by complicating the moral of a point. The child does not dutifully take in the lesson that salvation lies in civilization, but, in good Freudian fashion, takes in the lesson that the pleasures of civilization come with discontent at its constraints: you ride the elevator, dress up in the green suit, and go to live in Celesteville, but an animal you remain—the dangerous humans and rhinoceroses are there to remind you of that—and you delight in being so. There is allure in escaping from the constraints that button you up and hold you; there is also allure in the constraints and the buttons. We would all love to be free, untrammelled elephants, but we long, too, for a green suit. In Jean de Brunhoff's second Babar book, The Travels of Babar, when the married couple leave by balloon on their honeymoon: Soon after the end of World War II, Laurent, who had become an artistic painter like his father and had also studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, began work on a Babar book of his own. Although his style of painting was different from his father's and he emphasized picture more than text in the creation of his books, [15] he trained himself to draw elephants in strict accord with the style of his father. Consequently, many people did not notice any difference in authorship and assumed the six-year gap in the series was because of the war. [16] [17] Laurent has always been careful to emphasize that Babar was his father's creation (and to some extent his mother's) and that he continued the series largely as a way of keeping the memory of his father and his own childhood alive. [18] Death [ edit ] Jean de Brunhoff's grave

And I don't accept any moldy or smokey (tobacco) books. Because I have to live with them too while they visit on my shelves, now alphabetized and priced.de Bertodano, Helena (2003-09-15). "Elephants and old masters". Daily Telegraph. London . Retrieved 2010-08-26. Sendak, Maurice (1981). "Homage to Babar on his 50th Birthday". introduction to Jean de Brunhoff & Laurent de Brunhoff's Babar's Anniversary Album. Random House. p. 7. ISBN 0394848136. But following the end of World War II de Brunhoff's son, Laurent de Brunhoff, then aged 21, took up his father's mantle. Since then, he has written more than 45 Babar books, as well as creating children's books with characters of his own invention, like Bonhomme and Serafina. Oh, dear. I'm afraid this is one children's classic that I did not like at all upon reading as an adult. I can appreciate the iconic illustrations and can certainly see why Babar made an enduring character, especially when the books were first published, as probably many children found the antics of an elephant in the city humorous, and dressed in his gentlemanly attire he certainly makes an interesting contrast from the other creatures of the forest. However, I really did not enjoy the story and I don't think it's one I will be keen to share with my children.

Babar and Zephir by Jean du Brunhoff, Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/502362.Babar_and_Zephir L'Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant (The story of Babar, the little elephant), FP 129, is a composition for narrator and piano by Francis Poulenc, based on Histoire de Babar and written between 1940-1945. It's been a while since I've read such a bizarre book, and it's been even longer than that that I've read a bizarre children's book. From the ambiguous setting to the unbelievable plot devices to the straight up confusing and bizarre relationship at the end, this was the most surprising read I had all year. Unfortunately, it wasn't surprising in a good way.

Sometimes it goes the other way. I'll make up a story from the beginning, like the new book, Paradise Island. I gave it to him fully written. Then we worked out what the illustrations should be. My goal as a writer is always to keep him painting. So I'll do whatever I have to do—either make up a story before, or make up a story after. But it's his illustrations that are primary. Jean de Brunhoff ( French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ də bʁynɔf]; 9 December 1899 – 16 October 1937) was a French writer and illustrator remembered best for creating the Babar series of children's books concerning a fictional elephant, the first of which was published in 1931.