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Babar
fictional character
Babar, fictional character, a sartorially splendid elephant who is the hero of illustrated storybooks for young children by the French writer and illustrator Jean de Brunhoff (1899–1937) and his son Laurent de Brunhoff (1925–2024). The character originated in a bedtime story that Cécile de Brunhoff told to her young sons, Laurent and Mathieu, in 1930. The tale centered on an orphaned young elephant who leaves the jungle and visits Paris, where he has many adventures. At his family’s encouragement, Jean de Brunhoff made illustrations of the story, which eventually grew into the first Babar book, L’Histoire de Babar, le petit ...(100 of 286 words)