Babar the Elephant turned 80 years old this week. The video embedded above shows author Laurent de Brunhoff reminiscing about the lovable elephant his father (Jean de Brunhoff) created when his son was six years old.
De Brunhoff continued his father’s picture book creation, but does not intend to pass along the character to someone else. Here’s more from USA Today: “[W]hen he’s gone, de Brunhoff says he would not like anyone else to continue publishing stories about Babar. ‘Maybe I am wrong,’ he says and pauses, ‘but I think Babar is mine.'”
Last week, de Brunhoff won’t be retiring anytime soon. He just released his latest book in the series, Babar’s Celesteville Games.
A number of authors saw their children continue their work. For example, John Bemelmans-Marciano, the grandson of Ludwig Bemelmans, added five more books to the Madeline series. Mike Berenstain, the son of Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain, has teamed up with his mother over the past six years to create several dozen more books in The Berenstain bears series. (via Publishers Lunch)