Laurent de Brunhoff: King of the Elephants

Teaching Pre K-8, Jan 2005 by Pierpont, Katherine

All hail a renowned figure of our time - Babar!

And let's not forget to toast author/illustrator Laurent de Brunhoff

Oftentimes, the very best stories and ideas come to us on the cusp of a dream roused in that fleeting moment between consciousness and sleep. It was during this special twilight time in 1930, right before her two drowsy young sons drifted off to sleep in their bedroom in France, that Cécile de Brunhoff conjured what would become one of the world's most beloved characters of children's literature.

Dream a little dream. Earlier that night, her son Mathieu had had a stomach ache and Cécile hastily made up a story involving a baby elephant and his mother in an effort to soothe the boy. In the bed next to Mathieu, her older son Laurent intently listened to the story unfold as the sound of his mother's voice eventually lulled him to sleep. Only five-years-old at the time, Laurent hadn't the faintest inkling of where this elephant would lead him. . ., ..

Babar is born. The next day, the two boys told their father, Jean, a painter, all about the elephant and his adventures. Their father was instantly intrigued by the story and jotted it down. He began to add to the plot and took time away from oil painting to illustrate pictures to go with the new story. He devised a kind, elderly woman who served as the elephant's benefactor after his mother was shot by a hunter and he was forced to leave the jungle and find his way in the city. Before Jean was finished, he added one final flourish to the story and christened the elephant "Babar." "My mother always told me that she had no idea where he got the name from," Laurent remembered. "He just made it up!"

Although Jean had intended the book to be a single-copy made especially for his sons, as more and more friends and family members saw the book, they urged Jean to try and get it published. Luckily, he was easily swayed by his brother, Michel, who was a publisher. The Story of Babar was published by Random House in 1931 (Abrams now publishes the new and reissued books in the Babar series).

In this first Babar book, Jean unconsciously established a framework for the series - in 56 pages, Babar is orphaned after his mother is killed by a hunter, he wanders into the city, gets fitted for a suit, becomes a big hit in society, marries his cousin, Celeste, and is crowned King of the Elephants. The book almost immediately became a huge success and was translated from French into several languages. Jean went on to write and illustrate six more Babar books.

Jean made sure that Laurent and Mathieu (their younger brother Thierry was only a baby) always played a part in whichever Babar book he was working on at the time. Mostly they would only weigh in when they thought their favorite character, the monkey Zephir, should be added to a scene. Sadly, in 1937, right before his last two books were in print, Jean became ill with tuberculosis and passed away.

Bringing back Babar. Laurent was only 12 at the time of his father's death and like his brothers and mother, he was stunned by this tragic loss. Always a quiet and thoughtful boy, Laurent retreated deeper into the world he traveled to when he drew or painted, and soon began to show signs of having inherited his father's enormous talent. He later went to art school and became an abstract painter. Oftentimes, he would find himself idly doodling the character whom he refers to simply as, "The Elephant." He began to think about celebrating his father's memory by bringing his lovingly-crafted creation back to life. In 1946, much to the family's delight, Laurent decided he would resurrect Babar with his book, Babar's Cousin, and in turn, keep the memory of his father alive.

Long live the king. Over time, as Laurent published more and more Babar adventures, he found that many of his readers didn't realize that Babar had two separate illustrators. He is determined to make it known that his father is the creator of the Babar series and he is dedicated to carrying on his inspiration. "I have great respect for my father and for his work," Laurent commented.

Although Laurent has dabbled in creating other stories for children such as Serafina the Giraffe (World Publishing, 1961) and Bonhomme (Pantheon, 1965) and has had forays back into abstract painting, he has found that Babar is a constant in his life from which he can never turn away. "When he was gone, there was an emptiness. My family missed Babar," he said. "1 was always happy with The Elephant."

In many ways, Laurent and Babar's lives have mirrored each other. Babar has grown from a scared baby elephant who cruelly had his mother taken from him, to the well-respected and beloved King of Celesteville. He married Queen Celeste, became a father to Flora, Pom, Alexander and Isabelle, explored other planets and America, became an ardent supporter of elephant art and achieved peace with his inner elephant. There is no limit to where he can take us - this coming fall we'll accompany Babar on whirlwind visits to Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Peru, Mexico, Egypt, Antarctica and other interesting locales with Babar's World Tour (2005). One thing is for sure, wherever Babar chooses to go in the years to come, his legion of fans is sure to follow.