Barbapapa is both the title character, and name of the "species" of said character, of a series of children's books written in the 1970s by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, who resided in Paris, France. The books were originally written in French (barbe à papa - literally "Daddy's beard" - is French for cotton candy or candy floss), and were later translated into over 30 languages.Several European publishers expressed interest in Barbapapa but did not wish to embark on spending the publishing cost. Frank Fehmers Productions, an Agent who later became a publisher, subsequently set up a co-production and the first edition was published in French, by L'École des Loisirs, British English, by Ernest Benn company, and American English by Henry Z. Walck Co. A few years later, when more titles had been published, Fehmers expanded the project to television films in conjunction with Joop Visch of Polyscope-Polygram, with the story boards designed by Taylor. After twelve years, Fehmers and Tison/Taylor discontinued their business relationship.As short cartoons of a length of only five minutes, the Barbapapa stories reached a broader audience via TV. Also a comic book version was created. Both the cartoons and comics sometimes show concerns about the environment and contain environmental messages.