In this story, young Babar’s mother is killed by a hunter, he is abandoned by all of his forest. The large scale encourages readers young and old to climb right into Brunhoff’s glorious two-page spreads and have a chat with the gentle beast he animates with simple lines and subtle colors. Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant was originally written in 1931 by Jean de Brunhoff. To appreciate Babar in his full glory, one should seek out editions published in the original large format (with pages measuring approximately 10 ½ x 14 inches) which retain the hand-scripted, cursive lettering for the text (rather than replacing it with roman type). First appearance, Histoire de Babar, 1931. When the boys repeated the story to their father, the painter Jean de Brunhoff, he decided to write it down and illustrate it. Not so, of course even Babar was invented, making his first appearance in a bedtime tale told one summer evening in 1930 by Cécile de Brunhoff to her sons, five-year-old Laurent and four-year-old Mathieu. Some denizens of children’s literature are so entrenched in our collective imagination, and Babar the elephant is certainly one, that they seem natural formations in the landscape of our fancy-timeless, enduring presences the world has always known.
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