Penna Dexter

I was delighted recently by an interview the Wall Street Journal published with the husband-wife team behind the long-loved Babar the Elephant children's books. Laurent de Brunhoff is 92 and says Babar's Guide to Paris, published this year, is his last. As a kid, I loved the Babar books. Babar's character was created by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. In the first book, the young elephant saw his mother shot by a hunter and fled the jungle to save his own life. In the city, he learned the ways of French civilization and, with this wisdom, returned to rule a jungle kingdom, Celesteville, named after his wife. Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated seven Babar books before his death in 1937. His son, Laurent, whom the journal says is "arguably a more gifted artist than his father," picked up the series and ran with it at age 21. He's written over 50 Babar books. The books are a beautiful collaboration between Laurent and his wife Phyllis Rose who is 75 and a retired professor of literature. According to the Journal, Mr. de Brunhoff develops an interest in a theme — say, the Olympics, and starts to sketch elephants throwing javelins. "Ms. Rose's job, then, is to weave the imagination into a narrative." I read Babar books to my children and appreciated them even more as an adult although I did detect socialist themes in the running of Celesteville, a sort of utopian innocence reigns there. But the Babar books are compelling — filled with adventure, family, and benevolent leadership. The longevity of this series is impressive. Ms. Rose told the Journal, "It suggests a kind of changelessness in what appeals to human beings when they're very young." But, she says the original Babar book "could not be published today." She says, "The publishers simply would not allow the death of a mother to be mentioned." Reading with beloved children is fun. And there are time-honored books you'll both enjoy.