In 1924 he married Cécile Sabourad, a pianist, with whom he had two sons, Laurent and Mathieu. After completing his service in the French Army, he returned to Paris to continue his artistic training, apprenticing as a student to noted French painter Othon Friesz. De Brunhoff studied painting at L'Ecole Alsacienne until World War I interrupted his studies. His father, Maurice, was a publisher of art magazines, and Jean's brother, Michel, became editor-in-chief of the French Vogue. Jean de Brunhoff was born December 9, 1899, in Paris, France. Filled with rich imagery, both written and pictorial, the Babar series forms the basis of an elephantine universe of wide-ranging adventures, which represent some of the canonical works of the modern picture book genre. Unlike other characters in juvenile classics-"children" like Alice, Pippi, Wilbur, and Christopher Robin-Babar is a grown-up whom young readers listen to and identify with they participate in his saga from birth through childhood and youth, to young manhood, marriage, leadership, and eventually, fatherhood. After Jean's premature death at the age of thirty-seven, his eldest son Laurent became the voice of Babar, authoring over sixty books that have permanently fixed the natty elephant into the public consciousness. The initial brainstorm of Cécile de Brunhoff, who created the ubiquitous pachyderm as an evening's bedtime story for sons Laurent and Mathieu, Babar was introduced to the world by her husband Jean who turned the playful tale into a lasting memorial of fatherly love and familial wisdom over the course of seven picture books.
One of the most iconic characters in twentieth-century children's literature, Babar the elephant represents the gentle legacy of the de Brunhoff family and remains a strong influence on the continuing evolution of picture book art. For further information on the "Babar" series, see CLR, Volume 4. The following entry presents commentary on the de Brunhoffs' "Babar" picture book series (1931–2005) through 2006. Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff INTRODUCTIONįrench authors and illustrators of picture books.
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