Laurent de Brunhoff was five years old when his mother invented a story for him and his younger brother: it told of an orphaned African elephant who escapes to Paris, where he is kitted out in a green suit before returning to the jungle to become king of his herd.
De Brunhoff, who has died aged 98, recalled how the excited boys recounted the tale to their father, Jean, an artist, who illustrated the stories and produced a book, Histoire de Babar (The Story of Babar), which was published in 1931.
