Potoooooooo
Contributor
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...phant-culture-animal-conservation-ngbooktalk/
When French author and illustrator Jean de Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37, it looked as though one of the best loved characters in children's literature—Babar the elephant—would die with him.
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.
Today, Laurent de Brunhoff is a wry 89-year-old, more comfortable with pictures than words, who still does yoga every morning before getting down to work. His new book, Babar on Paradise Island, created with his wife and collaborator, Phyllis Rose, was published this year.
De Brunhoff and Rose, an author and English literature professor emerita at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, live and work together in an art-filled apartment on New York's Upper West Side. De Brunhoff's workspace, at the back of the apartment, is piled with Babar-abilia: Babar posters, Babar mugs, framed sketches of Babar, a stuffed Yogi Babar, and a Ganesh, the Indian elephant god. On a white, square drafting table sits a large pot of paintbrushes. Tiny ceramic mixing bowls contain dried watercolor pigment.
Over wine and pretzels, they recalled how Russian publisher Ivan Nabokov brought them together in Paris, how husband and wife collaborate, and why, though his creator now lives in America, Babar will never eat hot dogs.
When French author and illustrator Jean de Brunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37, it looked as though one of the best loved characters in children's literature—Babar the elephant—would die with him.
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.
Today, Laurent de Brunhoff is a wry 89-year-old, more comfortable with pictures than words, who still does yoga every morning before getting down to work. His new book, Babar on Paradise Island, created with his wife and collaborator, Phyllis Rose, was published this year.
De Brunhoff and Rose, an author and English literature professor emerita at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, live and work together in an art-filled apartment on New York's Upper West Side. De Brunhoff's workspace, at the back of the apartment, is piled with Babar-abilia: Babar posters, Babar mugs, framed sketches of Babar, a stuffed Yogi Babar, and a Ganesh, the Indian elephant god. On a white, square drafting table sits a large pot of paintbrushes. Tiny ceramic mixing bowls contain dried watercolor pigment.
Over wine and pretzels, they recalled how Russian publisher Ivan Nabokov brought them together in Paris, how husband and wife collaborate, and why, though his creator now lives in America, Babar will never eat hot dogs.