An abstract painter and illustrator of stories of Babar the Elephant, Laurent de Brunhoff is the son of Cecile de Brunhoff, a French writer and artist who told her young sons elephant stories to amuse them when they were young. The boys, Laurent and his brother, Mathjieu, persuaded their mother to publish the stories and their father to illustrate them, and the first of the stories was released in 1931. From that time Laurent de Brunhoff has carried on the tradition, writing and illustrating thirty more of the tales.

De Brunhoff lived most of his life in Paris, but in 1985, he and his family, including his mother, Cecile, moved to Connecticut. One of his favorite pastimes is hiking in the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park.

The Morgan Library in New York City is the repository of the family materials relating to the Babar books. Following is a list of books illustrated by de Brunhoff:
1993 The Rescue of Babar
1992 Babar's Battle published
1991 a third calendar, Babar in History, is produced
1989 Babar's Busy Year published
1988 Babar's Little Circus Star published
1987 Babar's Little Girl published;
1986 Babar's Counting Book published
1984 Babar's Book of Color published;
1983 Babar's ABC published
1980 Babar's Little Library published, four tiny books-- air, earth, water, fire;
1979 One Pig With Horns published
1978 Babar's Mystery and Babar Learns to Cook published
1976 Babar Saves the Day published
1975 Babar and the Wully-Wully published
1974 Bonhomme and the Huge Beast published
1973 Meet Babar and His Children published
1972 Babar Visits Another Planet published
1971 Gregory and the Little Turtle published
1970 Babar's Birthday Surprise published
1970 little books Babar's Bookmobile published
1969 pop up Babar Goes to the Moon published
1969 little books Babar's Other Trunk published
1968 pop up Babar's Games published
1967 Babar Loses His Crown published
1966 little books Babar's Trunk published
1965 Babar Comes to America
1963 Babar's French Lessons
1962 Serafina's Lucky Find published
1961 Babar's Castle
1957 At the Top of One's Voice
1954 Babar's Fair published;
1951 Babar's Visit to Bird Island published;

Source:
'Museum Accessions', The Magazine Antiques, December 2005, p. 32

Laurent de Brunhoff (born August 30, 1925, Paris, France)

He is the older son of Jean and Cecile De Brunhoff and was twelve years old when his father died. It was already clear then that he had inherited his father's talent as an artist. After studying fine arts at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, de Brunhoff took over the Babar the Elephant series of books.

Since 1985 he lives in the United States, but he goes often to France to see his two children, his brothers, and his mother.

Source:
prose.web.wesleyan.edu