Le Petit Nicolas illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempé dies aged 89

Sempe co-created much-loved French children's books that have sold more than 15m copies worldwide

Jean-Jacques Sempe, the celebrated French cartoonist who illustrated the children's book series Le Petit Nicolas and produced more covers for the New Yorker magazine than any other artist, has died aged 89.

Sempe's acclaimed cartoons often showed small figures set in vast urban landscapes or contemplating the enormity of nature amid trees or gardens. Drawn in delicate, soft lines, they were sometimes accompanied by a one-line gag - a deliberately gentle form of social commentary from an artist who had escaped a violent and difficult childhood near Bordeaux, but who described himself as an eternal optimist.