Although disappointed to learn that Father Christmas already has a full schedule for Christmas Eve, and cannot fit the elephants into his gift-giving trip, Babar does convince him to vacation in the land of the elephants, successfully setting up a seasonal relationship. Traveling to Europe, where he hopes to find the seasonal gift-giver, Babar follows a number of false leads before finally tracking his quarry down at his mountainside cavern dwelling in Bohemia (near the village of PRJMNESWE). De Brunhoff and his wife are buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris.īabar sets out to find Father Christmas in this seventh picture-book from Jean de Brunhoff - published in 1940 as Babar et le père Noël, it was the final original Babar book, with all subsequent titles either written by de Brunhoff's son, Laurent, or by ghost-writers - intent upon asking him to include the land of the elephants in his annual Christmas voyage. Many people did not notice the 10 year gap, as Laurent also showed exceptional talent in drawing elephants. The Babar books are thought to be a way for Brunhoff to share himself with his family. The first seven Babar albums were reprinted and millions of copies were sold all around the world, but they were all abridged they had 30 pages instead of the original 48.

After his death, Hachette bought the printing and publishing rights to the Babar series, and ten years later Jean's eldst son, Laurent, took on his late father's role of writing and illustrating the series. He married Ceccile Sabourand, a talented pianist from a Catholic family, in 1924.īrunhoff died of tuberculosis at the age of 37. Afterwards, he decided to be a professional artist and studied painting at Academie de la Grand Chamiere. Brunhoff joined the army and reached the front lines when World War I was almost over. He attended Protestant schools, including the prestigious L'Ecole Alsacienne.

He was the fourth and last child of Maurice de Brunhoff, a successful publisher, and his wife Marguerite. After its first appearance, six more titles followed.

The stories were originally told to their second son, Mathieu, when he was sick, by his wife Cecile de Brunhoff. Jean de Brunhoff was a French writer and illustrator known for co-creating Babar, which first appeared in 1931.

Babar and father christmas book