Laurent de Brunhoff (1925-) Biography

Surname is pronounced "broon-awf"; born 1925, in Paris, France; immigrated to the United States, 1985; Education: Attended Lycee Pasteur and Academie de la Grande Chaumiere. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, birdwatching, travelling, hiking, watercolor.

Addresses

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 100 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011.

Career

Author and illustrator of children's books. Began to work seriously at painting about 1945; at the same time he became involved in continuing the "Babar" picture book series his father had originated. Exhibitions: Brunhoff's paintings have been displayed at the Galerie Maeght and the Salon de Mai in the 1950s. Original watercolors by Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff have appeared in various museums in the United States, including Fifty Years of Babar, 1983-84; The Art of Babar, 1990-92; Babar, Watercolors, Mary Ryan Gallery, New York, NY, 1987, 1990; National Academy of Design, 1991; Babar's Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, 2003; and New York Public Library, 2004.

Honors Awards

Best Illustrated Books of the Year citation, New York Times, 1956, for Babar's Fair; Officier des Arts et Lettres, 1984; Walter Award, Parson's School of Design, 1988, for work with educational illustration; Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (France), 1992.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Serafina the Giraffe, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1961, published in France as Serafina la Girafe, Editions du Pont Royal, 1961.

Serafina's Lucky Find, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1962.

Captain Serafina, World Publishing (New York, NY), 1963.

Anatole and His Donkey, translated from the French by Richard Howard, Macmillan (New York, NY), 1963.

Bonhomme, translated from the French by Richard Howard, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1965.

Gregory and Lady Turtle in the Valley of the Music Trees, translated from the French by Richard Howard, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1971, published in France as Gregory et Dame Tortue, Ecole Loisirs (Paris, France), 1971.

Bonhomme and the Huge Beast, translated from the French by Richard Howard, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1974, published in France as Bonhomme et la grosse bete qui avait des escailles sur le dos, Grasset (Paris, France), 1974.

The One Pig with Horns, translated from the French by Richard Howard, Pantheon (New York, NY), 1979.

"BABAR" SERIES

Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur, Hachette (Paris, France), 1947, translated by Merle Haas as Babar's Cousin: That Rascal Arthur, Random House (New York, NY), 1948.

Pique-Nique chez Babar, Hachette (Paris, France), 1949, translated by Merle Haas as Babar's Picnic, Random House (New York, NY), 1949.

Babar dans l'ile aux oiseaux, Hachette (Paris, France), 1951, translated by Merle Haas as Babar's Visit to Bird Island, Random House (New York, NY), 1952.

La Fete de Celesteville, Hachette (Paris, France), 1954, translated by Merle Haas as Babar's Fair, Random House (New York, NY), 1954.

Babar et le Professeur Grifaton, Hachette (Paris, France), 1956, translated by Merle Haas as Babar and the Professor, Random House (New York, NY), 1957.

Le Chateau de Babar, Hachette (Paris, France), 1961, translated by Merle Haas as Babar's Castle, Random House (New York, NY), 1962.

Babar's French Lessons, Random House (New York, NY), 1963.

Babar's Spanish Lessons, Spanish text by Roberto Eyzaguirre, Random House (New York, NY), 1965.

Babar Comes to America, translated by M. Jean Craig, Random House (New York, NY), 1965.

Babar Loses His Crown, Random House (New York, NY), 1967, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Babar's Games (pop-up book), Random House (New York, NY), 1968.

(Reteller) Jean de Brunhoff, Babar aux sports d'hiver, 7th edition, Hachette (Paris, France), 1969.

Babar's Moon Trip (pop-up book), Random House (New York, NY), 1969.

Babar's Birthday Surprise (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1970, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002.

Babar Visits Another Planet (also see below), translated by Merle Haas, Random House (New York, NY), 1972, published in France as Babar sur la planete molle, Hachette (Paris, France), 1972, reprinted, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2003.

Meet Babar and His Family (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1973, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002.

Babar and the Wully-Wully (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1975, published in France as Babar et le Wouly-Wouly, Hachette (Paris, France), 1975.

Babar Saves the Day, Random House (New York, NY), 1976.

Babar's Mystery (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1978, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Babar Learns to Cook, Random House (New York, NY), 1978.

Babar the Magician (shape book), Random House (New York, NY), 1980.

About Air (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1980.

About Water (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1980.

About Earth (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1980.

About Fire (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1980.

Babar and the Ghost (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1981.

(Illustrated with father, Jean de Brunhoff) Fifty Years of Babar (exhibition catalogue), introduction by Maurice Sendak, International Exhibitions Foundation (Washington, DC), 1983.

Babar's ABC, Random House (New York, NY), 1983, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2001.

Babar's Book of Color, Random House (New York, NY), 1984, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Babar's Counting Book, Random House (New York, NY), 1986, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2001.

Babar's Little Girl (also see below), Random House (New York, NY), 1987.

Babar's Little Circus Star, Random House (New York, NY), 1988.

(Illustrator, with Jean de Brunhoff) The Art of Babar: Drawings and Watercolors by Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff (catalogue), Art Services International (Alexandria, Virginia), 1989.

Babar's Busy Year: A Book about Seasons, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

Babar's Colors and Shapes, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

Babar's Number Fun, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

Babar's Paint Box Book, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

Babar's Busy Week, Random House (New York, NY), 1990.

Isabelle's New Friend, Random House (New York, NY), 1990, reissued as Babar's Little Girl Makes a Friend, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002.

Hello, Babar!, Random House (New York, NY), 1991.

Babar's Battle, Random House (New York, NY), 1992, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002, published in French as La Victoire de Babar, Hachette (Paris, France), 1992.

Babar's Bath Book, Random House (New York, NY), 1992.

Babar's Car, Random House (New York, NY), 1992.

Babar's Peekaboo Fair, Random House (New York, NY), 1993.

The Rescue of Babar, Random House (New York, NY), 1993, reprinted as Babar's Rescue, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Babar's French and English Word Book, Random (New York, NY), 1994.

Babar and the Succotash Bird, Harry N. Abrams (New York), 2000.

Babar's Yoga for Elephants, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2002.

Babar and the Christmas House, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2003.

Babar's Museum of Art, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2003.

Babar Goes to School, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2003.

Babar and the Gift for Mother, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Babar and the Runaway Egg, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Portions of the "Babar" series have been translated into eighteen languages.

"BABAR" SERIES; COLLECTIONS

Babar's Trunk (includes Babar Goes on a Picnic, Babar at the Seashore, Babar the Gardener, and Babar Goes Skiing), Random House (New York, NY), 1969.

Babar's Other Trunk (includes Babar the Camper, Babar the Athlete, Babar and the Doctor, and Babar the Painter), Random House (New York, NY), 1971.

Babar's Bookmobile (includes Babar Bakes a Cake, Babar's Concert, Babar to the Rescue, and Babar's Christmas Tree), Random House (New York, NY), 1974.

Babar Box (includes About Water, About Fire, About Air, and About Earth), Diogenes Verlag (Switzerland), published as Babar's Little Library, Random House (New York, NY), 1980.

(With Jean de Brunhoff) Babar's Anniversary Album: Six Favorite Stories (includes Jean de Brunhoff's The Story of Babar, The Travels of Babar, and Babar the King, and Laurent de Brunhoff's Babar's Birthday Surprise, Babar's Mystery, and Babar and the Wully-Wully), introduction by Maurice Sendak, Random House (New York, NY), 1981, Harry N. Abrams (New York, NY), 2001.

Babar's Family Album: Five Favorite Stories (includes Meet Babar and His Family, Babar and the Ghost, Babar the Magician, Babar Visits Another Planet, and Babar's Little Girl), Random House (New York, NY), 1991.

OTHER

(With Jean de Brunhoff) Albums roses "Babar," Volume VI, Hachette (Paris, France), 1951-53.

(Editor) Jean de Brunhoff, Les Adventures de Babar (text-book), Hachette (Paris, France), 1959.

(Illustrator) Auro Roselli, The Cats of the Eiffel Tower, Dial (New York, NY), 1967.

Adaptations

The Story of Babar and Babar Comes to America were adapted for an animated television film, narrated by Peter Ustinov, music by Francis Pouleue, by Lee Mendelson/Bill Melendez Productions in 1971. Babar Comes to America and Babar's Birthday Surprise were reworked for a sound recording, read by Louis Jordan, with music composed and conducted by Don Heckman, Caedmon (New York, NY), 1977. Babar's Mystery and Babar and the Wully-Wully were issued on disc and cassette, read by the author, by Caedmon (New York, NY). The characters and situations created by Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff were adapted for the animated film Babar: The Movie, with voices by Gordon Pinsent and Sarah Polley, by Nelvana, 1989, as well as a television series broadcast in the United States by Home Box Office. Other children's books based on Brunhoff's Babar characters have been produced, including Babar and the Scary Day and Isabelle the Flower Girl, both written by Ellen Weiss, illustrated by Jean-Claude Gibert, and published by Abrams (New York, NY), 2004.

Sidelights

Perhaps the most famous French import since deep-fried potatoes, Babar the Elephant has charmed young readers around the world since he first appeared in picture books in 1931. "The stories have influenced the imaginations of generations," noted BookPage's Jamie McAlister, "as they turned the colorful pages and learned more about these adventurous and fashionable elephants who walk upright, wear glasses and hats, drive cars, raise children, and exist in their own world with humans as if there were no barriers." Lynne T. Burke, writing in Reading Today, noted that "in a world where fame is fleeting, Babar's reputation is legendary; his story never grows old." Created by Jean de Brunhoff with the first title, The Story of Babar, the series has been continued by his son, Laurent de Brunhoff, since his father's death in 1937. Laurent de Brunhoff is the author and illustrator of some fifty hardcover and more than a dozen mini books for children. Brunhoff's diligent efforts to craft the pachyderm and its tales in his late father's style have proved successful with children and with some critics, although a few reviewers have asserted that Babar lost part of his distinctiveness and spirit in the transition between father and son. Due to the work of both Brunhoffs, however, Babar has become a classic figure in children's literature and a favorite with readers. The younger Brunhoff is also credited with keeping the situations and activities of Babar contemporary.

Since publishing his first "Babar" story in 1947, the artist has taken Babar on visits to other countries and planets, and has engaged the animal in a number of hobbies, such as camping, cooking, painting, and gardening. Under Brunhoff's guidance, the "Babar" series has expanded to provide readers with an educational experience as the character helps children learn the alphabet, numbers, colors, and other languages. The author has also ventured from Babar's kingdom to create a realm of original animal protagonists in books like Serafina the Giraffe and Bonhomme. These stories have provided Brunhoff with the opportunity to showcase his own talents for art and storytelling.

Born in 1925, Laurent de Brunhoff showed an early proclivity toward art. This was partly to be expected, for he came from an artistic family: his father, Jean, was a painter and his mother, Cecile, was a musician. As a young child, Laurent, along with his brother Mathieu, were told a miraculous story of a baby elephant who rode on his mother's back and was happy in his jungle home until one day a hunter shot the mother. Thereafter, the baby elephant had to make his own way in the world and soon found himself in the city where he met Old Lady, who liked elephants. Luckily, this lady was wealthy and could provide for the baby elephant. Soon the baby elephant began to learn the ways of man, using money and dressing in posh clothes. The Brunhoff boys so loved the stories their mother was telling them, that they pleaded with their artist father to draw the elephant for them. In an interview with Emma Fisher in Pied Pipers: Interviews with the Influential Creators of Children's Literature, Brunhoff further described the beginnings of the amiable pachyderm: "[My father] never had it in mind to write a book for children. He was a painter, and it just happened one day that my mother narrated a story about a little elephant to us, my brother and me. We were five and four. We liked this story of the little elephant and we told my father about it. He simply had the idea of making some drawings for us. Then he became very excited about it and made a whole book, and that was the first one." As Brunhoff told Jennifer M. Brown in a Publishers Weekly interview, "he invented the Old Lady, who was not part of the original story my mother told." In fact, the father enjoyed playing with the story so much, that he created a name for the baby, Babar. "My father was an impressionist painter," Brunhoff told Brown. "I think he discovered himself as an artist creating these books."

As it happened, Jean de Brunhoff's brother, Michel, was a publisher and brought out this first tale, The Story of Babar, which had already become a family institution. Suddenly, the public, too, was entranced by the goings on of this friendly elephant, and six more books followed. After being rescued by the Old Lady, Babar returns to his jungle home as king of the elephants and makes his cousin Celeste his queen, setting up home in Celesteville, where the Old Lady comes to live with them. He fathers children, including Flora, Pom, Alexander, and Isabelle, makes the friendship of the monkey Zephir, and of the wise old elephant Cornelius. Then, in 1937, Jean de Brunhoff died of tuberculosis. His son, Laurent, was only twelve. World War II came in 1939, and the young Brunhoff finished his studies in Paris and began painting, setting up a studio in Paris. By the end of the war, he began to think of continuing the "Babar" series, something the publishers had been arguing for since the death of Jean de Brunhoff; however, the mother, Cecile, would not allow it. When her own son broached a story idea to her, though, it was a different matter.

Brunhoff hit on the idea of introducing a cousin, Arthur, into the milieu, and thus was born the second coming of "Babar." As Brunhoff noted to Brown, "I wanted to be as faithful as possible to my father, but I was not the same man." Brunhoff put his own interests into the books: a love of bird watching sent Babar to a bird island; a new world post-War sent Babar off to a new planet and to the United States. "But deep inside, there is the same philosophy, the same love," Brunhoff further explained to Brown. "That is the world of Babar. There is always a good end."

Brunhoff's first title was Babar's Cousin: That Rascal Arthur. Numerous other titles followed: Babar takes up skiing, or goes on a picnic or to the seashore or camping, or visits a doctor. "His stories are just as entertaining," noted Robert Wernick in the Smithsonian, "with the same unpredictable but wholly natural turns as his father's. Both mix the farfetched and the familiar, elephant life and human life, with the same easy assurance. Laurent sometimes lets his fancy fly a little freer than his father ever did. His compositions are less symmetrical, often straining to soar off the page." Reviewing the 2001 reissue of Brunhoff's Babar's ABC in Horn Book Guide, Jennifer M. Brabander found that Babar and company "offer a comforting familiarity." The twenty-six letters of the alphabet make appearances in this title in words from Alexander to Zephir. Reviewing the same title, Janis Campbell noted in the Detroit Free Press that the "classic is as fresh and fun as ever." With Babar's Birthday Surprise, wife Celeste has the famous Podular make a statue to celebrate Babar in a tale that is a "great joy," according to a reviewer for Horn Book Guide.

Babar's popularity on the printed page has made the character a hot merchandizing item for retailers. The pachyderm's image has appeared on an assortment of toys, including stuffed likenesses, as well as T-shirts and a range of other items. Brunhoff's Babar has also been featured on television in a series. A motion picture, Babar: The Movie, was released in 1989, based on the characters of the books, not the works themselves. Amid his successes with Babar, Brunhoff has found time to create original stories featuring animal protagonists. These include books such as Serafina the Giraffe and Bonhomme, two series begun in the 1960s, Gregory and Lady Turtle in the Valley of the Music Trees, in 1971, and The One Pig with Horns, in 1979. In a review of Serafina the Giraffe, New York Herald Tribune Book Review contributor Margaret Sherwood Libby assessed, "we are delighted to have him branch out for himself."

Brunhoff came to live in the United States in 1985 and continued to draw his lovable elephant. In Babar's Little Girl, baby Isabelle is introduced. Her first big adventure ensues when the family believes she is lost, but in fact the child knows exactly where she is. In Babar's French and English Word Book, Brunhoff uses his pachyderm to introduce numerous words in both languages. In Babar's Battle, the elephant manages to avert a war with Rataxes, ruler of the rhinoceroses. Though finding the tone a bit "moralistic," a reviewer for Horn Book Guide found Babar and his clan as "engaging as ever" in this title. Similarly, another Horn Book Guide contributor found Babar's Little Girl Makes a Friend a "self-conscious story about interracial friendship." In this tale, Isabelle makes friends with one of the enemy, a rhinoceros.

Isabelle makes another appearance in The Rescue of Babar. She is aided by a snake, lion, and monkey in her efforts to free her father from the striped elephants. However, when found in a massive city in the inside of a volcano, Babar at first refuses to go home with Isabelle. Discovering that someone is drugging his watermelon smoothie and clouding his judgment, Isabelle manages to prevail in this story that should be a "favorite with Babar fans," as Janice M. Del Negro wrote in Booklist. The return of Babar and Isabelle to Celesteville makes for "a festive close" to this "particularly charming caper," wrote a reviewer for Publishers Weekly.

Brunhoff took a vacation from the "Babar" series between 1994 and 2000, returning to his fine arts painting which he had long put on hold. An abstract painter and avid hiker, Brunhoff found plenty to occupy himself. A camping trip into the High Sierras of Yosemite, however, reawakened his desire to work on his favorite elephant. As he told McAlister, "'Suddenly I had an idea for [a] book, and it was very fast, it came very strongly in my mind.'" The book in question was Babar and the Succotash Bird, about a beautiful bird that visits Alexander, Babar's son, in the middle of the night. Out hiking the next day, the boy thinks that he meets the same bird again, an animal that makes a call that sounds like "succotash." In fact, this exotic bird is actually a bad sorcerer who captures him. Babar and the family, helped by wise Cornelius, go in search of Alexander, and through the assistance of a good wizard—who was actually the original bird—they are able to rescue him. Despite some reservations about the premise of the tale, Piper L. Nyman, writing in School Library Journal, felt that "children will flock to this new adventure." Similarly, a reviewer for Publishers Weekly thought that the details of Alexander's escape were "overblown" in this "rather awkwardly paced picture book," but when Brunhoff focused on Babar and the family, "his work shines." Booklist's Shelley Townsend-Hudson also reported a mixed reception; while finding the "contrived, tacked-on message confusing," Townsend-Hudson also had praise for the "entertaining" illustrations.

With the 2002 Babar's Yoga for Elephants, the king of the elephants presents a "lighthearted guide to yoga for pachyderms (and people)," according to a contributor for Publishers Weekly. Babar points to cave drawings that prove that even the woolly mammoth practiced yoga. He and Celeste resurrect the practice in Celesteville, and then go on a worldwide tour to spread the word. This introduction is followed by a practical guide to basic yoga movements. The reviewer for Publishers Weekly felt that Brunhoff's "signature watercolor renderings" would allow young readers to follow Babar's movements in this "diverting volume." Writing in Booklist, Marta Segal Block found the same book a "fun introduction" that is "best used when an adult is nearby."

Brunhoff went on to invent a "whimsical, wry caper," according to a critic for Publishers Weekly, in his 2003 Babar's Museum of Art. In this tale, Babar and Celeste convert the old Celesteville train station into a museum that will display all the various artworks they have gathered on their many trips abroad. Building the museum is hectic, but opening day finally arrives. Babar and his citizens can enjoy classic works of art from Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam to Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Other great artists—thirty in all—are also included. The only difference from the originals is that in Babar's collection, all the human figures in the paintings have been replaced by elephants. The contributor for Publishers Weekly praised Brunhoff's "gentle artistic makeovers," further observing that this artwork "skillfully allows young readers an entree to the world of fine art." The same reviewer called the book a "visual treat." More praise came from Booklist's Gillian Engberg, who found the book "as entertaining as it is instructive." Writing in School Library Journal, Mary Elam thought readers would discover "entertaining comparisons to classic art collection," while a contributor for Kirkus Reviews called the title "another classically plotless but curiously appealing outing."

Brunhoff summed up his feelings about children and his books to Marjorie Fisher in Who's Who in Children's Books: "I love children; they are always ready to follow you into a dream. For them there is no border between dream and reality." He added, "If you dream, you escape; but at the same time there are things in my books which are essential in life, even today, and which are not at all an escape—I mean friendship and love, the search for harmony and refusal of violence. And I believe that these traits are common both in my father's books and in my own." Robert Wernick in Smithsonian also pointed to Babar's "fundamental nature—imperturbable, gregarious, sweet-tempered…. This is a world where misfortune can arrive at any time, but … you can always count on a flight of winged elephants … to arrive in a blaze of light and rout the dark imps." Brunhoff credits his wife, Phyllis Rose, for her collaboration on the text and stories of his most recent titles.