Laurent de Brunhoff is very hard of hearing, and much more tentative with the English language than a man who’s lived in America for 32 years ought to be. He is taciturn, too, seldom uttering more than two short sentences in succession. A third sentence, when it comes, is like a gift from the gods.
The author and illustrator of the winsome and widely loved Babar the Elephant books, Mr. de Brunhoff is also shy, almost bashful. It becomes clear as he talks that this gentle old man of 92, born in Paris seven years after World War I ended, is still very much a boy. “I like to make the elephant alive,” he says. “The elephant is a very appealing animal with its big ears and trunk, even when it is not dressed like a human.”
A subscription is required to read the full article "Babar The Elephant Takes His Final Bow."
