short book review of the little prince

The Literary Edit

Review: The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

I often wonder if I’ll ever reach a point in my reading life where I’m satisfied by the amount of books I’ve read; where I can say with confidence that I’ve read the classics and the critically acclaimed that have long haunted my to-be-read pile. Thus far, 2019 has been a good year for books: I read my first Agatha Christie, I read a Russian classic hailed by many as the best book of the twentieth century. I finished thirteen books in January; more in the months that have since passed. I too have read my first book by an Indonesian author, and a couple of contemporary novels I’ve had my eye on for a while. And yet, and yet, there are still many hundred of books I fear I may never get around to reading, unless given a particular reason to do so.

The Little Prince was one of the said unread books until a fortnight ago. While I’m sure I may have read it as a child, as an adult it’s always been a book that had never quite made it to my list of reading priorities until a friend recommended it recently. I had just finished The Master and Margarita when I was queuing for a coffee at my local bookshop in Bondi, Gertrude & Alice, and I saw they had the Penguin Classic edition was on sale. With no plans for the rest of the morning, hot drink in hand, I settled myself down to read, the air infused with coffee beans and the hum of idle chatter.

Beloved by many since its first publication in 1943, Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince is an enchanting fable imbued with life lessons that tells the tale of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the intricacies of adult behaviour through a series of unexpected encounters.

A profound and poetic tale, the story is a philosophical one and through its social criticism of the adult world, reminds its readers that we were all children once. Written during a period when Saint-Exupéry fled to North America subsequent to the Fall of France during the Second World War, it is, according to one review, “…an allegory of Saint-Exupéry’s own life—his search for childhood certainties and interior peace, his mysticism, his belief in human courage and brotherhood, and his deep love for his wife Consuelo but also an allusion to the tortured nature of their relationship.”

Rich with timeless lessons that are cushioned behind layers of delightful story-telling. The Little Prince is the sort of book that will inspire wonder and reflection, even in the most cynical, and world-weary adult.

And so, to end, my favourite quote from this poignant and profound novella: “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”

About The Little Prince

Moral allegory and spiritual autobiography, The Little Prince is the most translated book in the French language. With a timeless charm it tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of extraordinary encounters. His personal odyssey culminates in a voyage to Earth and further adventures.

About Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry was born in 1900 in Lyon. In 1921, he began his training as a pilot By 1926, he had became one of the pioneers of international postal flight. In 1935 he embarked on a record-breaking attempt to fly from Paris to Saigon. Nineteen hours into the flight, his plane crashed in the Sahara desert. He survived the crash but spent three days battling dehydration, limited food and hallucinations. On the fourth day, the was rescued. In part, this experience was the inspiration for The Little Prince . He continued to fly until World War II, during which he took self-imposed exile. On 31 July 1944, he disappeared over the Mediterranean while flying a reconnaissance mission.

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4 comments on “Review: The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry”

What a lovely post! I am a new subscriber from Sweden. Looking forward to read more reviews from you!

Thanks for stopping by Anna and for your lovely words – they made my day! xo

I love the little prince it’s my favourite book

It’s a really lovely, touching tale, isn’t it? xo

News, Notes, Talk

Read the first reviews of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince .

Today marks the 79th anniversary of the disappearance of French writer, journalist, and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. On July 31, 1944, Saint-Exupéry took off in an unarmed P-38 on his ninth reconnaissance mission for the Free French Air Force from an airbase on Corsica, and never returned.

His most famous work, The Little Prince , tells the story of an aviator, downed in the desert and facing long odds of survival (inspired by the author’s own experience crash landing in the Libyan desert in 1935), who encounters a strange young prince, fallen to earth from a tiny asteroid where he lived alone with a single rose. The rose has made him so miserable that, in torment, he has taken advantage of a flock of birds to convey him to other planets.

As Barry James in The New York Times wrote: “A children’s fable for adults, The Little Prince was in fact an allegory of Saint-Exupéry’s own life—his search for childhood certainties and interior peace, his mysticism, his belief in human courage and brotherhood, and his deep love for his wife Consuelo but also an allusion to the tortured nature of their relationship.”

We take a look back at some of the earliest reviews of Katherine Woods’ 1943 English language translation of this beloved and deceptively profound novella.

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

“There is a verse in the New Testament which is often quoted but never taken seriously. Had it been we would not today be tearing the planet and its civilization to bits. That verse in the 18th Chapter of Matthew tells us that except we become as children we cannot enter the Kingdom. And I hope I give no offense in this connection if I say that the text may be applied to literature. For I think that much of the wisest literature is that which seems written for children—stories of Aesop and Hans Christian Andersen, for example. And please consider those sentences my review of a beautiful book written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (Reynal & Hitchcock: $2). For here is a sweetly and simply told tale of a little boy from a very little asteroid, so big with meaning that even important people will find wisdom in it; so simply told that even critics and college professors ought to understand its beauty and meaning; a thin little book filled with rich substance; something easy to read and remember and hard to forget.”

–Paul Jordan-Smith, The Los Angeles Times , 1943

“The door’s wide open on my guess as to how this will sell. It may get a break, it may be read by the right people, those rare adults who can go over the border of the Never Never Land without a backward look, who can sense intuitively that intangible outer fringe of unreality that is wholly real to children. Let’s say that those who loved the fey quality in Barrie—in Robert Nathan—who read their Alice for sheer escape rather than self conscious nostalgia, they will touch the gossamer beauty of The Little Prince , and chuckle over it, and take it as simply and unaffectedly as ‘St Ex’ himself. Perhaps belief in ‘the little prince’ is the forerunner of belief in the gremlins; who knows? This is a fairy tale for grown ups; later the children will claim it, I am sure. It is the tale of the tiny creature who came to Saint-Exupery when he was stranded in the Sahara, who told him the saga of his exotic travels in search of truth, when he left his own tiny asteroid, and visited others, until he reached the earth. It was the fox who wanted to be tamed who taught him that he must return to his own and find there the happiness and the meaning of life he had left.”

–Kirkus , April 1, 1943

“…children are like sponges. They soak into their pores the essence of any book they read, whether they understand it or not … The Little Prince will shine upon children with a sidewise gleam. It will strike them in some place that is not the mind and glow there until the time comes for them to comprehend it.”

–P.L. Travers (author of Mary Poppins ), The New York Herald Tribune , 1943

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The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Prior to reading The Little Prince (or, in the original French, Le petite prince ), I would have told you that I was “familiar” with it. I would have simply left out the fact that my familiarity only extended to the bits they quoted in One Tree Hill voice-overs and epigraphs of famous novels. Turns out, there’s a lot more to this children’s book than quaint aphorisms…

The Little Prince has a strange history (like most timeless classic children’s books). The author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a French aviator, childless, and (at the time of writing) living under grueling war-time exile. How he managed to both write and illustrate such a perennially popular moral allegory, a “spiritual biography”, under those circumstances, I’ll never know…

It was first published in New York, in April 1943, but not published in France – or French, the language in which Saint-Exupéry wrote – until after Liberation, as all of the author’s writings had been banned by the Vichy regime. “The unusual bilingualism of the story’s publication,” explains the introduction to my edition, “means that the first translation, by Katherine Woods, is properly speaking as much the original work as the French text from which it was drawn.”

From that stumble start, The Little Prince has gone on to become the most translated French book in the world, appearing now in over 300 languages and dialects (my copy was translated into English – again – by T.V.F. Cuffe). Over 140 million copies have been sold worldwide.

Another note on my particular edition (the Penguin Modern Classic): it also contains another work by Saint-Exupéry, Letter To A Hostage. It’s an open letter to a friend of the author’s, a Jewish intellectual who was in hiding in occupied France. They make for strange bedfellows, I thought at first, but reading the dedication of The Little Prince (one of the most beautiful I’ve ever encountered), it made sense:

“ To Léon Werth I ask children who may read this book to forgive me for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a genuine excuse: this grown-up is the best friend I have in the world. I have another excuse: this grown-up understands everything, even books for children. I have a third excuse: this grown-up lives in France, where he is cold and hungry. He needs a lot of consoling. If all these excuses are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child whom this grown-up used to be, once upon a time. All grown-ups started off as children (though few of them remember). So I hereby correct my dedication: To Léon Werth when he was a little boy. “ The Little Prince (Page 3)

Could somebody please pass the tissues? *sniffle*

Ahem, to the story: The Little Prince begins with the narrator describing grown-ups, specifically their natural inability to perceive or understand the things that are truly important. He explains that, as a child, he’d hoped to become an artist, but none of the grown-ups understood his drawings and they encouraged him to pursue more “reasonable” lines of work.

So, from the beginning, you can see the magic of The Little Prince : as with all great children’s books, it addresses the reader on their level, with respect and empathy. The fantasy to follow in The Little Prince works precisely because it employs the logic of children, and celebrates their imaginative capacity, without getting bogged down in making things “realistic” for the grown-ups.

“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children always and forever to be giving explanations.” The Little Prince (Page 6)

So, the narrator grew up to be a pilot, and one day his plane crashes in the Sahara desert (clearly drawing on Saint-Exupéry’s real-life experience, because believe it or not, that actually happened to him – more than once!). As he’s trying to fix his plane, and worrying about running out of water, a young boy – the titular “little prince” – appears as if by magic, demanding that the pilot draw him a sheep. They become fast friends, and over the course of the following eight days, the little prince slowly reveals the story of his life.

The little prince came from a very tiny “home planet” (which the narrator identifies as a house-sized asteroid), with a few very small volcanoes and a variety of plant life, including one very special rose that the prince treasured above all else. He left the rose, and his home planet, to explore the universe. Along the way, he encountered a series of satirical caricatures of grown-ups (including the “king” who had no subjects, forced to issue commands to the sun to rise and set in order to exert his power, and the “businessman” who claimed he owned all the stars and proved it by counting them).

When the little prince landed on Earth, at first he assumed it was uninhabited, as he landed in the middle of stark desert. Eventually, he met a snake, and then some flowers, and then a fox (who begged the little prince to “tame” him, so that they might become friends).

At this point, the character of the fox offers perhaps the most often-shared gem of wisdom from The Little Prince . It is the story’s keynote aphorism: “ On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux,” (“One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”) Judging by the drafts and notes, Saint-Exupéry reworded and rewrote that line at least 15 times before settling on this version.

Despite making all these new friends, by the time the little prince meets the pilot, he is dreadfully homesick, and by the time he’s told his story, the pilot is dying of thirst. The little prince finds the pilot a water well and then tells him that it’s time return to his home planet (which might “look like” him dying of a snake bite, but actually he’s simply leaving his shell behind).

The Little Prince ends with a drawing of the landscape where the little prince and the narrator met, and where the snake took the little prince’s corporeal life. The narrator asks the children reading the book that if they ever find themselves in that place, and they meet a little boy with golden curls, that they contact him immediately so that he may be reunited with his friend.

Do you need a(nother) tissue? I don’t blame you. It’s an incredibly moving ending, holy heck – unlike anything I’ve read in contemporary children’s book.

But here’s the clincher (take a deep breath, this is going to hurt): The Little Prince is a very strange case of life coming to imitate art. Saint-Exupéry disappeared without a trace on his eighth high-level reconnaissance flight on 31 July 1944, just over a year after The Little Prince was published. He was never found, nor does anyone have any clue what happened to him and his plane. Léon Werth, the dear friend to whom the book is dedicated, did not learn of Saint-Exupéry’s presumed death until a month later, via radio broadcast (remember that he was in hiding). Even then, it wasn’t until November that year that he learned of The Little Prince , the book his friend had written for him. Ugh, I can’t – it’s just TOO SAD!

Sad as it may be, I suppose it’s fitting: almost everything, every symbol and every character, in The Little Prince was drawn from some aspect of Saint-Exupéry’s life. As I mentioned earlier, there’s the pilot and his crash landing in the Sahara, but there’s also the little prince’s rose (reportedly inspired by Saint-Exupéry’s wife), the small home planet with volcanoes (inspired by Guatemala, where Saint-Exupéry recuperated from another crash), and so on.

The Little Prince might be a short and simple story, but don’t be deceived: Saint-Exupéry poured his whole heart and soul into it. He wrote and illustrated the manuscript over the summer of ’42, working “long hours with great concentration”, usually at night (when he felt most creatively “free”), spurred on by truly scary quantities of black coffee. His biographer, Paul Webster, said: “Behind Saint-Exupéry’s quest for perfection was a laborious process of editing and rewriting which reduced original drafts by as much as two-thirds.” He would often wake up in the morning still at his desk, with his head on his arms over the pages. Unsurprisingly, he also suffered from a number of stress-related health problems, and marital strife.

Initial reviewers were a bit flummoxed by the multi-layered story of The Little Prince . The book found only modest success at first, spending just two weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. I think (or hope) we’re now more accepting of books with complex messages, ones that can appeal to multiple age groups – given that The Little Prince now sells almost two million copies each year and has become a cultural icon, it would seem to be the case. Still, don’t go into it if you’re looking for something twee and lighthearted. Every copy, in all the languages across the world, should probably be sold with a big box of tissues.

My favourite Amazon reviews of The Little Prince:

“there’s something about reading this book that makes you feel at peace with yourself and the whole world. The Little Prince knows whats up” – Malanie Beverly
“What can be said about this little story. It is timeless. It is as fresh as spring water. Thank you” – Bea

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December 30, 2020 at 9:52 AM

Oh my gosh, FIRST OF ALL, I am dying over your reference to One Tree Hill because SAME! 🤣🤣🤣

But mostly, I love that we both discovered this one this year. Cheers to a much brighter 2021, Sheree!

January 1, 2021 at 1:35 PM

Ahahahaha! SO relieved it’s not just me! Cheers to you too, Hannah 🥂❤️

January 7, 2021 at 11:25 AM

This book is a little gem! The Rose is intriguing but I think my favourite is the Fox. The fate of Saint-Exupery sort of sticks on your mind 🙁

January 7, 2021 at 6:30 PM

Oh doesn’t it, though – I still feel a bit teary thinking about it!

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The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Book Review: Moving classic

The Little Prince , Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s children’s classic (for all ages) is about our responsibility to live good lives.

The Little Prince Book Synopsis

Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince . It comes third in the top five most translated books in the world, at around 300 translations.

Richard Howard’s new translation of the beloved classic — published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s birth — beautifully reflects Saint-Exupéry’s unique and gifted style. Howard has excelled in bringing the English text as close as possible to the French, in language, style, and most important, spirit. The artwork in this new edition has been restored to match in detail and in colour Saint-Exupéry’s original artwork. It will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.

Genre: Classic, Children, Literature

Disclosure: If you click a link in this post we may earn a small commission to help offset our running costs.

BOOK REVIEW

The Little Prince (not to be confused with Conor Brennan’s equally charming memoir Little Princes ) is one of those classics that I’d always wanted to read but not got around to until now. There is a certain mystique about it, mirrored by that of the author Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s own life story .

Although I read it in ebook format I made sure it was one that featured Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s original illustrations. I am so glad I did this because while the text itself conveys great wisdom, in my opinion the author’s illustrations take his intended message to a whole other level.

As with all children’s stories that become classics, The Little Prince contains much, if not more, value for an adult reader. For example, we are reminded that we need to put up with a few caterpillars if we want to get to know butterflies.

In addition to being cute and whimsical for children, the relative proportions within the illustrations really help focus the more adult satire.

This is in part a recounted tale of The Little Prince’s journey from one tiny planet to the next and his interactions with different adults, such as a king, a businessman, a geographer, and a lamplighter. Through this character’s direct and untainted child-like outlook, de Saint-Exupery has a none too subtle dig at the ‘grown-up’ thinking and futility of each’s circumstance.

It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it’s because you are a truly wise man.

But it is The Little Prince’s interaction with the book’s narrator who has crashed in the desert, that is a moving reminder of help being found in the most unlikely of places if only we open our minds to it. And, that the roles of the ‘helper’ and ‘helpee’ can often be reversed.

At its heart this story is about our responsibility to live good lives. I strongly recommend this very worthy children’s classic to readers of all ages.

BOOK RATING: The Story 4.5 / 5 ; The Writing 4.5 / 5

Get your copy of The Little Prince from:

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“All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.” – The Little Prince , Antoine de Saint-Exupery

About the Author, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY (1900-1944) was born in Lyons, France. He took his first flight at the age of eleven, and became a pilot at twenty-six. He was a pioneer of international commercial aviation and flew in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. His writings include The Little Prince ; Wind, Sand and Stars ; and Southern Mail . In 1944, while serving with his French air squadron, he disappeared during a reconnaissance flight over the Mediterranean.

More children’s literature that resonates with all ages: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle / The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey / The Flute Player by Shawn Mihalik / Tales by Trees – The Carpenter / The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang

This review counts towards my participation in the Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 .

A booklover with diverse reading interests, who has been reviewing books and sharing her views and opinions on this website and others since 2009.

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The Little Prince

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Table Of Contents

The Little Prince , fable and modern classic by French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that was published with his own illustrations in French as Le Petit Prince in 1943. The simple tale tells the story of a child, the little prince, who travels the universe gaining wisdom. The novella has been translated into hundreds of languages and has sold some 200 million copies worldwide , making it one of the best-selling books in publishing history.

The narrator introduces himself as a man who learned when he was a child that adults lack imagination and understanding. He is now a pilot who has crash-landed in a desert. He encounters a small boy who asks him for a drawing of a sheep , and the narrator obliges. The narrator, who calls the child the little prince, learns that the boy comes from a very small planet, which the narrator believes to be asteroid B-612. Over the course of the next few days, the little prince tells the narrator about his life. On his asteroid-planet, which is no bigger than a house, the prince spends his time pulling up baobab seedlings, lest they grow big enough to engulf the tiny planet. One day an anthropomorphic rose grows on the planet, and the prince loves her with all his heart. However, her vanity and demands become too much for the prince, and he leaves.

The prince travels to a series of asteroids, each featuring a grown-up who has been reduced to a function. The first is a king who requires obedience but has no subjects until the arrival of the prince. The sole inhabitant of the next planet is a conceited man who wants nothing from the prince but flattery. The prince subsequently meets a drunkard, who explains that he must drink to forget how ashamed he is of drinking. The fourth planet introduces the prince to a businessman, who maintains that he owns the stars, which makes it very important that he know exactly how many stars there are. The prince then encounters a lamplighter, who follows orders that require him to light a lamp each evening and put it out each morning, even though his planet spins so fast that dusk and dawn both occur once every minute. Finally the prince comes to a planet inhabited by a geographer. The geographer, however, knows nothing of his own planet, because it is his sole function to record what he learns from explorers. He asks the prince to describe his home planet, but when the prince mentions the flower, the geographer says that flowers are not recorded because they are ephemeral . The geographer recommends that the little prince visit Earth .

On Earth the prince meets a snake , who says that he can return him to his home, and a flower , who tells him that people lack roots. He comes across a rose garden, and he finds it very depressing to learn that his beloved rose is not, as she claimed, unique in the universe. A fox then tells him that if he tames the fox—that is, establishes ties with the fox—then they will be unique and a source of joy to each other.

Book Jacket of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by American children's author illustrator Eric Carle (born 1929)

The narrator and little prince have now spent eight days in the desert and have run out of water. The two then traverse the desert in search of a well, which, miraculously, they find. The little prince tells the narrator that he plans to return that night to his planet and flower and that now the stars will be meaningful to the narrator, because he will know that his friend is living on one of them. Returning to his planet requires allowing the poisonous snake to bite him. The story resumes six years later. The narrator says that the prince’s body was missing in the morning, so he knows that he returned to his planet, and he wonders whether the sheep that he drew him ate his flower. He ends by imploring the reader to contact him if they ever spot the little prince.

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By Dan Kois

Nov. 5, 2010

You know the Little Prince, of course: the golden hair and ruddy cheeks, the long scarf trailing in the Sahara wind, all familiar from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved 1943 parable. But what about the pilot? Saint-Exupéry made sketches of the narrator of “The Little Prince,” but the airman — whose crash-landing gives the Prince’s planet-hopping philosophical adventures their frame — never makes an appearance in the book’s final version.

The pilot finally is seen in the French cartoonist Joann Sfar’s thoughtful new comics adaptation of “The Little Prince,” which has been gracefully translated by Sarah Ardizzone. And his appearance is the key to what makes this graphic novel not only a charming diversion but a new way of looking at a classic. With his arched eyebrows and receding hairline, Sfar’s pilot is a ringer for Saint-Exupéry himself.

“The Little Prince” has always been regarded as a psychological self-portrait of the daring aviator and author — who wrote it in New York, despairing of his marriage, despondent at the French surrender, desperate to return to the air. (He had been grounded by the Allies for one too many plane mishaps.) And he cast his wife as the fickle, demanding rose, who vexes the Little Prince as much as Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry vexed Antoine.

Sfar is a major cartoonist in a country that really values cartoonists. In America he’s best known for the graphic novel “The Rabbi’s Cat” and the “Dungeon” adventure comedy series. Sfar’s illustrations at times mirror Saint-Exupéry’s own — several denizens of outer asteroids could almost have been lifted straight from his sketchbook — but the Prince himself is shorter and squatter than you remember him, with bigger eyes. Less like an icon, and more like a real kid.

Indeed, Sfar’s comic may well appeal to real kids more than the original does. Its philosophical pronouncements, while wise as ever, are gently embedded in the story rather than acting as punctuation marks on each short chapter. Sfar transforms Saint-Exupéry’s voice — still a bit stuffy for kids, a bit snide for adults — into a living person, who dearly loves his Little Prince. (One effective sequence, invented by Sfar, has the Prince leaping from atop the plane in a joyous somersault to play with a delighted Saint-Exupéry.)

Thus the Prince’s protracted night-time goodbye at the end is newly touching, and harrowing, in Sfar’s book in a way it’s never felt in the original. And the boy’s prediction — that after he disappears into the desert the pilot will forever hear his laughter in the stars — comes on a lovely page on which the Prince himself glows brightly before the gloomy Saint-Exupéry. “When you’re feeling better (we always find consolation in the end) you’ll be glad you knew me,” the Prince says. “You’ll always be my friend.” I’ve always loved that evocative parenthetical, but I love it more when the shining boy who delivers it touches his friend’s shoulder with a tiny hand.

For children, Sfar’s comic represents an excellent point of entry for a well-known work. For grown-ups, it serves as an ode to the author who brought the Little Prince into the world just a year before he, too, disappeared, gone without a trace. Before the war’s end, Saint-Exupéry found a way to fly again, and plunged with his Lockheed P-38 into the sea off the coast of Marseille less than a month before the liberation of Paris. Reading Sfar’s version of his most enduring tale, we are reminded that Saint-Exupéry, like the Prince facing the snake, returned willingly to meet his end.

As part of its richly imagined conclusion, Sfar’s adaptation places us in the cockpit of his P-38 at night. The pilot smiles sadly to himself. The stars surround the plane, as joyous and alive as the Prince promised they would be. His plane skims the waves, which look, in this clever and wondrous retelling, just like the starlit sands of the Sahara.

THE LITTLE PRINCE

Written and illustrated by Joann Sfar

Translated by Sarah Ardizzone

Adapted from the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

110 pp. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $19.99. (Ages 10 and up)

Dan Kois is the author of “Facing Future,” about the musician Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.

The Little Prince Summary

1-Sentence-Summary: The Little Prince is a beautiful children’s story full of valuable lessons for adults, recounting the tale of an aviator and a little boy from a distant planet, both stranded in the desert, looking to get home, sharing what they’ve learned about life.

Favorite quote from the author:

Table of Contents

Video Summary

The little prince review, who would i recommend our the little prince summary to.

If you had to explain the big, complicated world of humans to a child, how would you do it? Would you open Wikipedia? Grab a textbook? Perhaps, you should just tell the little one a story — and there might be no better one to tell them than to read The Little Prince .

The French poet and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote this less-than-100-page novella during World War II. It so beautifully captures the essence of humanity and its problems, it has become one of the best-selling books of all time. The book has been translated into more than 500 languages and sold some 200 million copies .

Antoine experienced a lot as a pilot flying many reconnaissance missions during WWII. He held many frustrations with society, and he brilliantly worked them into this book, which he also illustrated himself. Sadly, Antoine disappeared on one of his missions at just 44 years old, but his messages survive to this day.

Here are 3 lessons we can learn as we follow the plot of the book:

Without imagination, it’s impossible to see the meaning of our life experiences.
There are 6 common traps adults fall into, but we can recognize and climb out of them.
What’s truly important in life we can only see with our heart, like friendship, for example.

Let’s see what the little prince has to teach us!

If you want to save this summary for later, download the free PDF and read it whenever you want.

Lesson 1: If we don’t apply our imagination to our sensory observations, we’ll miss the point of life.

The story begins with the narrator complaining about adults’ inability to understand what’s important in life. To test them, he shows them a picture of a boa that has eaten an elephant. When they claim it looks like a hat, he knows they’ve lost their imagination .

The narrator is an aviator, and when his plane crashes in the Sahara desert, he meets the little prince, a young boy with golden hair and strong curiosity. Surprisingly, the prince interprets the elephant-devouring boa correctly. Then, the prince asks the narrator to draw a sheep but dismisses his first few attempts. Only when he draws a simple box, claiming the sheep is inside, is the prince satisfied — finally they both got to use their imagination!

Some people will look at a van Gogh painting and only see sunflowers, but there’s more on the canvas than just dried colors. If you try, you can feel what it would be like to touch the flowers, sense the sunshine nourishing them in a field, or even picture their whole life journey from seed to wilting.

Imagination is our strongest skill as humans. If we don’t apply it to what we take in through our senses, we’ll miss the meaning of our life experiences. Einstein once said that “imagination is more important than knowledge,” and it was only through imagination that he derived his most important theories.

Don’t lose your imagination, and always look beyond the obvious.

Lesson 2: Adulthood comes with 6 common ruts, but we can get out of them if we’re willing to take an honest look in the mirror.

While the pair tries to find water and fix the narrator’s plane, the little prince tells him his story. Originally hailing from a house-sized asteroid, where tended to three volcanoes, kept fast-growing baobab trees at bay, and cared for his single rose, the prince one day decided to visit other planets.

On six planets, he met six individuals, each of which represents a common trap for adults:

A king without any followers, who only gives pointless orders, like telling the sun to set.
A conceited man who prides himself on being the most admired person on his planet — because he’s the only one there.
An alcoholic who drinks to not feel ashamed about his drinking.
A manager who only counts the stars instead of looking at them.
A lamplighter who turns the light (aka the sun) on his planet on and off every 30 seconds, blindly following his orders.
A geographer who has never been to any of the places he catalogs.

Ego, vanity, bad habits, and mindless following — we all succumb to these challenges at times. The important part is snapping out of them when we realize what’s going on, and the prince’s encounters can be a great mirror for us to do so.

Don’t get lost in the hum-drum-ness of adult life. Stay humble, curious, and always think for yourself .

Lesson 3: The most important things in life aren’t things we can see or touch — and friendship is one of them.

After more encounters, one of them being a garden full of roses, showing the prince that his rose was not unique, he met a fox, who taught him about “taming” — friendship. The fox explained the prince’s rose was special because it was the one he chose to care for, not because there were no other roses. “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important,” he said.

The prince and the fox formed a bond over several days, and when it was time to leave, the fox cried. He also gifted the prince a secret: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Soon after that, the prince, too, crashed in the desert. On the eighth day, just before dying of thirst, the prince finds a well, saving himself and the narrator. The ending of the story , too, is something we can only see with our hearts: The prince lets a snake bite him to return to his planet without his body. Did he die or did he make it? That’s up to us to decide.

Life is only as good insofar as you bring your full self to it. Let other people in. Form connections . Ties make us vulnerable, but without them, we can’t fully appreciate life. If we have nothing to lose, we also have nothing to love.

Listen to your heart. What does it tell you? Who should you spend more time with? Who is making your life what you want it to be? Usually, what we believe is important is already written inside us. All we have to do is read it out loud and stand by it.

The Little Prince is a lovely novella full of deep and hidden meanings. Children will enjoy it at face value, and adults can ruminate over it for days. Plus, it’s a short and easy read. If you haven’t read this one, don’t miss it.

The 6-year-old who just learned to read, the 32-year-old young dad, who’s desperate for a bedtime story to read to his daughter, and anyone who loves planes, flying, and travel.

Last Updated on May 6, 2024

Niklas Göke

Niklas Göke is an author and writer whose work has attracted tens of millions of readers to date. He is also the founder and CEO of Four Minute Books, a collection of over 1,000 free book summaries teaching readers 3 valuable lessons in just 4 minutes each. Born and raised in Germany, Nik also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration & Engineering from KIT Karlsruhe and a Master’s Degree in Management & Technology from the Technical University of Munich. He lives in Munich and enjoys a great slice of salami pizza almost as much as reading — or writing — the next book — or book summary, of course!

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Book Review The Little Prince Antoine De Saint Exupery

Book Review: The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery

August 25, 2017 By Jessica Filed Under: Book Review 2 Comments

The Little Prince

Moral allegory and spiritual autobiography, The Little Prince is the most translated book in the French language. With a timeless charm it tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of extraordinary encounters. His personal odyssey culminates in a voyage to Earth and further adventures.

Reading The Little Prince was such a strange experience. It’s delightful. It’s funny. It’s adorable. The almost condescending attitude towards adults and the jokes at their expense makes this book appealing to kids since they can relate to being baffled by grown-ups. But as I’m laughing at the crazy adults and the crazy things they do, I had to stop for a second as it sank in that I do those crazy things, too. I found myself reflecting at the deeper story behind this prince and his cute travels to different planets. The little prince’s complete bewilderment at the behavior of adults challenged the way I think in so many ways. And boy do I love a story that challenges my thinking.

Here’s one that blew my mind – if sheep eat flowers with the thorns, then what good are thorns? I HAVE NO IDEA. My instinct is to explain evolution or genetics. But that’s not the question. The thorns don’t do any good and I hadn’t realized that. Maybe as adults we simply stop questioning things because now we know science and math and stuff and we assume there’s nothing left to learn. I do have a lot left to learn. I need to figure out why plants have thorns.

The little prince describes grown-ups as loving numbers and asking questions to get to know someone where the answers are numbers instead of questions about things that matter (like getting to know their personality). To prove the little prince is right, here’s a numbered list of the types of adults he meets on each planet:

The King – talks about his control and power, but the little prince clearly sees that it’s just an illusion since he commands things under the “science of government, until conditions are favorable. (pg 31)” Or, when they were going to do it anyway.
The Vain Man – wants nothing more than to be admired constantly. The little prince wonders “…what is there about my admiration that interests you so much? (pg 34).”
The Drunkard – the vicious cycle of shame. He’s ashamed that he drinks so he drinks to forget his shame. The prince has literally nothing to say about that.
The Business Man – endlessly counts all the stars and says he owns them and they make him rich. The little prince sees that work should be a two-way street. “But you’re not useful to the stars. (pg 40)”
The Lamp Lighter – stuck in the endless cycle of chores. He is a hard worker and the little prince likes him since his job is useful to others, but the little prince doesn’t understand why he can’t rest and enjoy the many joys (like sunsets) that his planet has.
The Geographer – never actually goes anywhere. He writes about places and discoveries that other people have made. He’s the kind of adult that never fully lives their life.
Earth – the last planet he visits that has a combination of all these grown-ups (which he numbers to please the adults).

I think I relate the most to the lamp lighter. I get stuck in the daily grind of things. Who do you relate to the most?

My favorite thing about the little prince is his view of love. The time you spend caring for something is what makes it important to you. A huge rose garden is not as meaningful as the one rose you took care of. Like the fox said, don’t forget this truth:

“One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince pg 63

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We read The Little Prince for book club and out host gave out these roses with a quote from the book attached. I had to share it since it was such a clever and fitting gift for the book.

Quote The Little Prince Antoine De Saint Exupery

About Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyons on June 29, 1900. He flew for the first time at the age of twelve, at the Ambérieu airfield, and it was then that he became determined to be a pilot. He kept that ambition even after moving to a school in Switzerland and while spending summer vacations at the family's château at Saint-Maurice-de-Rémens, in eastern France. (The house at Saint-Maurice appears again and again in Saint-Exupéry's writing.)

Later, in Paris, he failed the entrance exams for the French naval academy and, instead, enrolled at the prestigious art school l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts. In 1921 Saint-Exupéry began serving in the military, and was stationed in Strasbourg. There he learned to be a pilot, and his career path was forever settled.

After leaving the service, in 1923, Saint-Exupéry worked in several professions, but in 1926 he went back to flying and signed on as a pilot for Aéropostale, a private airline that flew mail from Toulouse, France, to Dakar, Senegal. In 1927 Saint-Exupéry accepted the position of airfield chief for Cape Juby, in southern Morocco, and began writing his first book, a memoir called Southern Mail, which was published in 1929. He then moved briefly to Buenos Aires to oversee the establishment of an Argentinean mail service; when he returned to Paris in 1931, he published Night Flight, which won instant success and the prestigious Prix Femina.

Always daring, Saint-Exupéry tried in 1935 to break the speed record for flying from Paris to Saigon. Unfortunately, his plane crashed in the Libyan desert, and he and his copilot had to trudge through the sand for three days to find help. In 1938 he was seriously injured in a second plane crash, this time as he tried to fly between New York City and Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The crash resulted in a long convalescence in New York.

Saint-Exupéry's next novel, Wind, Sand and Stars, was published in 1939. A great success, the book won the Académie Française's Grand Prix du Roman (Grand Prize for Novel Writing) and the National Book Award in the United States. At the beginning of the Second World War, Saint-Exupéry flew reconnaissance missions for France, but he went to New York to ask the United States for help when the Germans occupied his country. He drew on his wartime experiences to write Flight to Arras and Letter to a Hostage, both published in 1942. His classic The Little Prince appeared in 1943. Later in 1943 Saint-Exupéry rejoined his French air squadron in northern Africa. Despite being forbidden to fly (he was still suffering physically from his earlier plane crashes), Saint-Exupéry insisted on being given a mission. On July 31, 1944, he set out from Borgo, Corsica, to overfly occupied France. He never returned.

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Classics Club

August 27, 2017 at 8:16 am

I read this a long time ago, but I remember really enjoying the wimzy. Maybe I should re-read.

November 16, 2017 at 1:20 pm

I’ve read The Little Prince for the first time when I was in the elementary school and I remember the teacher advising us to read this story again in a few years because we would look at it from a completely different perspective… I have read it 3 times in my life and every time I interpret it in a different way, amazing book.

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The Little Prince

By antoine de saint-exupery.

Based on fiction and fantasy, ‘The Little Prince’ is inspired by the voyages, reflections and realisations of Antoine. It tells the story of a young man who meets a character in a desert in Africa- someone that would go on to change his life forever.

About the Book

Article written by Chioma Julie

Degree in M.C.M. Awarded Best Graduating Student in Literature-in-English at UNISEC.

‘The Little Prince ’ is a novel based on adventure, fiction, and fantasy. It is inspired by the voyages, reflections, and realizations of the author. It takes place, mostly in a desert in Africa. The narrator, who is expected to be the main character, but who isn’t, finds himself trapped in a desert. There, he meets the protagonist- the little prince. Our beloved little prince. The little prince changes his life forever.

All his life, before the accident that wrecked his aircraft’s engine and landed him in the desert, he was always disappointed in the grown-ups- continued to be, in fact, but, his forever memorable encounter with the little prince, shifted his perspective or approach to things, a lot. It made him realize that he was slowly becoming like the grown-ups who mostly understood nothing or very little, but who liked to think they know everything that should matter. Once in a while, even after the encounter, he slacks. But that experience is always there to awaken him, once more.

Key Facts about The Little Prince

Title : The Little Prince
Original title : Le Petit Prince
Author’s Name : Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Published : 6 April 1943
Literary Period : Modern Times
Genre: Adventure, fantasy; an adult fable, styled as a children’s book.
Climax : The little prince’s death (or more appropriately, when the little prince dropped his shell and became a star).
Antagonist[s ]: Those with a generally blurred perspective or approach to life and what matters in life, so basically, the grown-ups.
Style of Writing/Diction/Structure – Simple sentence structure, simple vocabulary, and a very simple structure, generally. The book has 27 chapters, consisting of 96 pages of hard copy, with some chapters having just a few sentences in them, making them much shorter than the others.
Setting : Most of the events in The Little Prince take place in a desert in Africa.
Point of View : First-Person

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and The Little Prince

Antoine was a French writer, and he was also one of the pioneers of aviation. Similar to the eye and the main character in the book, he was an adventurer. He wanted to become a naval officer but wrote the exam and failed it. He then joined aviation, instead. This line of work, especially at that time, was dangerous by the way. In 1927, he finally reached his goal of becoming a pilot, after having been a mechanic for some time, as the rite of passage. He completed dangerous missions- had many accidents in the middle of the desert. During his missions, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry thought deeply about solitude, friendship, the meaning of life, the human condition, and liberty, which are also some of the main themes in ‘ The Little Prince .’ He published his reflections. These thoughts resulted in ‘ The Little Prince,’ amongst many other books by the author.

Antoine’s story is similar in many ways to the story this book tells- a story on the value of friendship. The book starts off with a brief biography of the boy- the narrator, who later becomes the little prince’s friend- how he had to let go of his ambition of becoming a painter, and become a pilot instead. Although he later picks up his pencil to draw again, on encountering the little prince, he never quite did master the plan, like he would have if the grown-ups in his life didn’t laugh or smirk at him, and misunderstand his first two drawings- the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside- the only things he admits to knowing how to draw, and even then, adults never quite understood what it was- they called the first one a hat. That was demoralizing for the child.

Most of what’s written in the books was inspired by Antoine’s wealth of experience, gotten especially, during his voyages. Antoine was well-traveled. He even became a journalist at some point; that was when the company he worked with began to face financial challenges. When France went to war with Germany in 1939, he enlisted. Even though France was later defeated, he refused to accept defeat, and Instead, left France for the US, where he continued to write. It was then that he published ‘ The Little Prince ,’ which went on to become one of his most celebrated books.

Even when he volunteered to join the American Army against North Africa to be a pilot at age 42 and was told he was too old for that, he persisted. One dominantly remarkable attitude the little prince has is that of being persistent, especially with questions. He asked and asked until he got answers. Antoine’s last mission was in July 1944. His aeroplane was destroyed by the Germans over the Mediterranean. In the open sky, he found risk, death, and glory. A little like the little prince, for both found glory in the open sky.

Antoine’s other books include- ‘ Wind, Sand and Stars ’ [1948], ‘ Night Flight ‘ [1931], ‘ Flight to Arras ‘ [1942], ‘‘ The Aviator’ [1926], ‘ Letter to a Hostage’ [1943], ‘‘ Airman’s Odyssey’ [1942], ‘ Man Sieht NUR MIT Den Herzen Gut ’ [1984] ‘ Sense of Life ’ [1956], ‘‘ Letters to His Mother’ [2018], ‘ Manon, Ballerina’ [2007], ‘ Kuttị ilavaracan’ [2009], and ‘Manon Danseuse’ [2007].

The last seven books listed were published after Antoine’s passing.

So far, his work, ‘ The Little Prince ‘ has been translated into English, Spanish, German, and Latin.

Books Related to The Little Prince

‘ Wind, Sand and Stars ’ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – a memoir, focusing on meditation, anecdotes, and thoughts about flying; ‘ Fox 8 ’ by George Saunders- focuses on Fox 8, a daydreamer who spends time listening to children; ‘ The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse ’ by Charlie Mackesy- published in 2019, it is an illustrated book focusing on friendship; ‘ The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho- a 1988 novel which tells the story of Santiago, it combines magic and wonder; ‘ Gulliver’s Travels ’ by Jonathan Swift- a prose satire which mixes fantasy and realism; ‘ Animal Farm ’ by George Orwell – a story that focuses on living beings and how insatiable they can be; ‘ The Fox and the Star ’ by Coralie Bickford-Smith- a story of a friendship between a fox and a star; ‘ The Happy Prince and Other Tales’ by Oscar Wilde- a collection of stories for children; ‘ The 13 Clocks’ by James Thurber- a fantasy tale of love.

The Lasting Impact of The Little Prince

The story of ‘ The Little Prince ‘ is a timeless read. The values spoken of and demonstrated severally in the book will continue to be of value. Friendship is not a passing discussion. It will continue to be talked about, because, unlike the trivial things grown-ups consider to be matters of consequence, friendship is a priority. It tops most if not all.

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The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | Book Review

Book Review of The Little Prince The Children’s Book Review

The Little Prince

Written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Age Range: 10+

Paperback: 98 pages

ISBN: 978-1949998641

Publisher: Harcourt (1943)

What to expect: Fantasy, Adventure, and Friendship

The Little Prince is a book that has been translated into English from the French language. The author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was a pilot. Similarly to the pilot in his story, while flying a mission during World War II, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s plane was shot down, and it disappeared somewhere over the Mediterranean.

The Little Prince is an honest and beautiful story about loneliness, friendship, sadness, and love. The prince is a small boy from a tiny planet (an asteroid to be precise), who travels the universe, planet-to-planet, seeking wisdom. On his journey, he discovers the unpredictable nature of adults. “All grown-ups were once children… but only a few of them remember it.”

The story begins on Earth with the narrator—a crashed pilot stranded in the Sahara Desert, who is trying hard to repair his wrecked plane. One day a little boy, oddly dressed, shows up out of nowhere and insists that the pilot draw him a sheep. The pilot obeys this odd request, which strangely enough leads to the pilot learning more about the Little Prince and where he came from. What unfolds is a marvelous story that some will deem happy and some will find sad. Either way, all readers will have their minds opened wide and will hopefully grow up to be adults that will always remember they were once children, too.

The Little Prince is a thin book with its mere ninety-eight pages, but don’t be fooled; it’s a brilliant book meant to be deeply thought about and to encourage you to build castles in the air.

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About the Author

ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY, the “Winged Poet,” was born in Lyon, France, in 1900. A pilot at twenty-six, he was a pioneer of commercial aviation and flew in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. His writings include The Little Prince, Wind, Sand and Stars, Night Flight, Southern Mail, and Airman’s Odyssey. In 1944, while flying a reconnaissance mission for his French air squadron, he disappeared over the Mediterranean

The Little Prince , written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , was reviewed by Bianca Schulze. Discover more books like The Little Prince by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Adventure , Antoine de Saint-Exupery , Classics , Fantasy , Friendship , and Middle Grade Books .

What to Read Next:

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

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Book Review: The Little Prince

On the surface, the story opens with the narrator reminiscing that as a child, when he drew a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant, grown-ups could only see it as a hat and advised him to stop drawing and concentrate on school subjects. “That is why I abandoned, at the age of six, a magnificent career as an artist. I had been discouraged by the failure of my drawing…Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again” (p. 2). As an adult he still showed people his drawing, but if they said they only saw a hat, he “would put myself on his level and talk about bridge and golf and politics and neckties” (p. 3).

So he felt pretty lonely and misunderstood until he crash-landed his plane in the Sahara Desert and met, in the middle of the isolation, a little prince. He had a hard time at first learning anything about the prince because he didn’t answer direct questions. The narrator had to pick up clues from things he said in passing, and in that way he learned that the prince was from an extremely small planet (the size of a house). But best of all, the prince understood his drawings.

Over the next eight days – the length of time the narrator’s water supply lasted while he tried to fix his plane – he learned more about the prince’s planet, travels to different planets and the odd people he met there, and his first excursions on Earth.

One gets the definite sense while reading that this story means more than the adventures of a little prince on his travels, yet the meaning isn’t entirely plain. I didn’t feel too bad about not being to make it out when I saw on SparkNotes and Wikipedia that there are differences of opinion among those who have read and studied the book since it was published 70 years ago. Some see in it elements of WWII, since it was written during that time, the dangerous baobob trees of the prince’s planet, which can “overgrow the whole planet. It’s roots pierce right through. And if the planet is too small, and if there are too many baobobs, they make it burst into pieces” (p. 15) representing Naziism. But some dispute that. There is more agreement that the vain rose that the prince cared for on his planet represents Saint-Exupéry’s wife. Some see it as “an allegory of Saint-Exupéry’s own life—his search for childhood certainties and interior peace, his mysticism, his belief in human courage and brotherhood…. but also an allusion to the tortured nature of their relationship” ( Wikipedia ). Some see it as “metaphor of the process of introspection itself, wherein two halves of the same person meet and learn from each other,” the narrator and the prince both representing aspects of Saint-Exupéry ( SparkNotes) . It adds to the mystique of the story that Saint-Exupéry was a pilot and did indeed crash-land in the desert once, and went missing while on a mission in his plane.

Whatever it means or represents, there are a few themes that come to the forefront. One is that “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes,” as a fox tells the prince. Another major theme is the problem of limited viewpoints. First there are the adults not understanding the narrator’s drawings, then one planet the prince visits is inhabited only by a king who only sees others as subjects to be ruled and acts toward them accordingly, and on another planet there is only a vain man who only sees others as admirers of himself, and so on. When the prince comes to Earth and lands in the desert and sees no other people, he asks a flower where they are. In her life she had only seen a few pass by, so she thought that’s all there were and that “The wind blows them away. They have no roots, which hampers them a good deal” (p. 52).

But to me the crux of the book is in the concept of “taming.” When the fox tells the prince he isn’t tamed, and the prince asks what “tamed” means, the fox replies:

“It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.”

“To establish ties?”

“Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world….”(p. 59).

He goes on to say that, “If you tame me, my life will be filled with sunshine. I’ll know the sound of footsteps that will be different from all the rest…If you come at four in the afternoon, I’ll begin to be happy by three” (pp. 60-61), and that from now on a wheat field, which means nothing to a fox since he doesn’t eat wheat, will remind him of the prince since his hair is the same color, “And I’ll love the sound of the wind in the wheat…” (p. 60). The fox also says, “It’s the time that you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important. . . . People have forgotten this truth, but you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose” (p. 64). The prince had thought his only rose was special until he comes across thousands of them on Earth. But the time and care he spent on it was what made it unique and special. So I think probably the biggest takeaway is that relationships (“creating ties”) are worth both the investment of time and care and then the pain when those with ties are apart, as the narrator himself discovers at the end. When the prince has to leave the fox, and the fox is sad, the prince tells him it’s his own fault for wanting to be tamed. When the fox admits he will weep when the prince goes, the prince asserts the fox got nothing out of being tamed. The fox replies, “I get something because of the color of the wheat” (p. 61). That statement in context is so poignant it almost makes me teary.

What I first thought of as an odd little tale that I couldn’t quite make sense of, now, after a couple of days of pondering, seems a very sweet and touching story about love and relationships. I love books that do that – make you think and unfold themselves long after the last page is turned.

( This review will also be linked to Semicolon ‘s Saturday Review of Books .)

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The little prince.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 8 Reviews
Kids Say 17 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

By Matt Berman , based on child development research. How do we rate?

Gorgeous classic about friendship, love, and life.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 10+?

The pilot has crashed in the desert and is worried about surviving. The prince w

The prince visits a man who drinks to forget his shame over his drinking.

Any Positive Content?

The Little Prince is kind, loyal, and curious. He's open to other perspectiv

Appearances can be deceiving -- you need to probe beneath the surface to get to

As a fable, The Little Prince offers intriguing prompts for philosophical discus

Violence & Scariness

The pilot has crashed in the desert and is worried about surviving. The prince worries about the safety of his rose. A venomous snake bites the prince.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

The Little Prince is kind, loyal, and curious. He's open to other perspectives and adapts to new ideas. He's reflective and able to acknowledge past mistakes. The attentive pilot is considerate and concerned for his new friend.

Positive Messages

Appearances can be deceiving -- you need to probe beneath the surface to get to the heart of things. Open-minded curiosity can lead to deep knowledge and emotional growth. Being narrow-minded and judgmental leaves you isolated and with a limited understanding of yourself and the world. Loving relationships require responsibility and faith, and it takes effort and risk to forge a close bond with another.

Educational Value

As a fable, The Little Prince offers intriguing prompts for philosophical discussion about love, friendship, and life.

Parents need to know that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry 's The Little Prince, first published in 1943 , is a classic fable about a stranded pilot's encounter with a young prince who travels from planet to planet in search of knowledge. This gentle book looks like it's a book for children, but it's generally better appreciated and enjoyed by an older audience. The language and themes can sail over the heads of young, casual readers, but there's nothing inappropriate for young readers. The prince allows himself to be bitten by a poisonous snake, which some children might view as suicide even though the author explains that the prince isn't dead. Older versions mention "Negro kings"; modern editions use the phrase "African kings."

Where to Read

Parent and kid reviews.

Parents say (8)
Kids say (17)

Based on 8 parent reviews

A classic that children can understand better than you think

What's the story.

A pilot crashes in the Sahara desert. While attempting to fix his plane a thousand miles from any habitation, he meets a strangely dressed little boy who seems to have come from nowhere and who demands that he draw a sheep. "When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey," so the pilot attempts to draw a sheep. Gradually the Little Prince reveals his story. He comes from a small asteroid, where he lived alone until a rose grew there. But the rose was demanding, and he was confused by his feelings about her. Eventually he decided to leave and journey to other planets in search of knowledge. After meeting many confusing adults, he eventually landed on Earth, where he befriended a snake and a fox. The fox helped him to understand the rose, and the snake offered to help him return to his planet -- but at a price.

Is It Any Good?

Beloved by generations of readers, this gentle, bittersweet fable can be a hard sell for kids: Poetic language, symbolic scenes, and philosophical discussions make it a better fit for older readers. Nevertheless, curled up with the right adult, kids with the patience can find their introduction to THE LITTLE PRINCE's kindly philosophy one of their most vivid moments of childhood.

You won't go wrong with either the original translation by Katherine Woods or the newer translation by Richard Howard, which features updated language -- both serve Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic story well. Do seek out an edition with Saint-Exupéry's whimsical watercolors, which contribute so much to this book's magical hold over readers. Several editions published in connection with the 2016 animated film feature artwork from the film; the stills are beautiful in their own way but are a departure from Saint-Exupéry's iconic images.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what it means when the fox says you're forever responsible for what you've tamed. How does that relate to your own relationships?

Do you think this book's ending is sad or happy?

Both the Little Prince and the pilot have a dim view of adults. Do you think they're right?

Book Details

Author : Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Illustrator : Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Genre : Fantasy
Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures , Friendship
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Harcourt Brace
Publication date : June 1, 1943
Number of pages : 96
Last updated : June 9, 2015

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Book Review: The Little Prince

The Little Prince is a story about a pilot who crash lands in the middle of a desert, attempting to repair his broken plane. Whilst he tries to do so, he meets a strange young boy who he calls the "little prince," and ignites an odd friendship with the boy. I've found that my experience in reading this classic tale has been different each time. My first time reading, I vaguely remember thinking how childish and confusing the story was. However, through my most recent and second time reading, I've finally understood the popularity surrounding the book. Although this story is meant to be a children's story, I think that people of all ages can read and appreciate this book, as it contains some deep and meaningful themes and quotes. This story speaks incredible volumes on the journey of growing up and is assisted in delivering this message through beautifully crafted sentences. Reading this book was an unforgettable experience, and I cannot express how stunning this book is. The illustrations in this story add some childlike charm, and the whole time I was reading, I was so content with the sweet writing style that I didn't want it to end. During the last few pages, I felt a bittersweet emotion as the story began to close, and I think the ending was perfect and added the right amount of sadness and hope. Overall, this book is one of my all-time favorites, and I cannot recommend it enough. You will not regret reading this story, and I hope some of the lines written in this story stick with you as they have for me

The Little Prince

By antoine de saint-exupery.

The Little Prince Summary

The narrator, a pilot, crash-lands his plane in the Sahara desert. While he tries to repair his engine and monitor his dwindling supply of water and food, a little boy appears out of nowhere and simply asks him to draw a sheep. The author then learns that this "little prince" comes from the far away Asteroid B-612, where he left a rose and three volcanoes.

The prince’s most prized possession was the rose, but her tempestuous mien and fickleness tired him and he decided to leave his tiny planet. To his surprise, the flower was visibly sad to see him go, but she urged him on nonetheless.

Before arriving on Earth, the prince visited other planets and met with strange individuals: a king, a vain man, a drunkard, a lamplighter, and a geographer. At the geographer’s suggestion, he visited Earth but dropped down into the Sahara Desert. He found no friends there, but a snake told him that if he ever needed to return to his home planet, he could take advantage of the snake’s bite. He met a fox that taught him to realize that to know others we must “tame” them; this is what makes things and people unique. "The essential is invisible to the eye," says the fox.

The narrator grows to love and cherish the small boy, marveling at how fragile he seems though he adopts a serious air. He and the boy find a well and drink from it, which saves the narrator’s life, but he later, right as he is about to joyfully tell the prince he's fixed his engine, happens upon the prince talking to a yellow snake about poison. The plan is for the prince to reunite with his rose, but this is utterly devastating to the narrator. Nevertheless, the boy lets the snake bite him and falls over into the sand. The narrator cannot find his body the next day so he hopes that the boy is not dead.

The narrator returns to his life but always wonders about the prince and hopes he returns. He asks readers to let him know if they ever meet the prince.

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The Little Prince Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Little Prince is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Who is the inhabitant of The Little Prince's shortest visit?

The inhabitant is a conceited man.

Why does the little girl have the jar of pennies?

I see no evidence of a little girl with a jar of pennies or coins in the text.... chapter?

Fully describe the appearance of the Little Prince.

The Little Prince was a little man with golden hair. He wore a blue jacket with burgandy lapels and cuffs, golden stars attached to his soldiers, knee-high blue boots, and he carried a sword.

Study Guide for The Little Prince

The Little Prince study guide contains a biography of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About The Little Prince
Character List

Essays for The Little Prince

The Little Prince essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Disguised Imperfections: Human Nature in "The Little Prince," "The Mirror Maker," and "The Nose"
Matters of Consequence in "The Little Prince": Comparing Childhood and Adulthood

Lesson Plan for The Little Prince

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to The Little Prince
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
The Little Prince Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Little Prince

Introduction

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The Little Prince

Antoine de saint-exupéry.

Ask LitCharts AI: The answer to your questions

The narrator, the pilot , crashes in the Sahara desert. He attempts to fix his engine, knowing that he only has a limited supply of water . As he begins to work on the engine, however, he hears a small voice asking him to draw a sheep. The narrator turns around to meet t he little prince , and after making several attempts at drawing the sheep, he settles on sketching a box—he tells the little prince that the box contains a sheep, and to the pilot's astonishment, the little prince is delighted.

The pilot begins to learn more about the little prince, discovering that he comes from the asteroid known as B-612. Eventually, he begins to learn other details of the little prince's planet as well, including the fact that baobab trees are a major menace and that the object of the little prince's affection is a rose . This rose is very vain, however, and tells lies, making the little prince unhappy. He decides that he cannot trust her anymore and leaves his planet.

The little prince first encounters a king who claims to rule over everything, including the stars . He has no subjects on his own planet to rule, however, and the little prince grows bored and leaves. The second person the little prince meets is a conceited man who enjoys applause and admiration. The third is a tippler who says that he drinks to forget that he is ashamed of drinking. The fourth grownup is a businessman who is busy counting the stars so that he may own them.

At this point, the little prince finds all the grownups very strange, and he continues onto the planet of the lamplighter , who lights a lamp on his planet when night falls and puts it out again when the sun rises. The little prince finds the lamplighter to be the least ridiculous of all the grownups because he thinks of something other than himself.

The little prince then comes across a geographer who tells the little prince that his rose is "ephemeral," or in other words, "in danger of speedy disappearance." This alarms the little prince and makes him regret leaving his rose. Nevertheless, he continues on his journey to the planet Earth.

The little prince lands in the middle of the Sahara desert, where he encounters a snake . The snake speaks in riddles, hinting that he has a powerful poison that can take the little prince back to his planet. The little prince continues to travel on Earth, however, eventually discovering a bed of roses, all identical to his own rose on asteroid B-612, making him question his own rose's contention that it is unique.

He then meets a fox, who teaches the little prince what it means to tame—or to establish ties—with another. The little prince realizes that his rose has tamed him, making her unique in the universe, even if she's outwardly identical to all the other roses on Earth.

The little prince goes on to meet a railway switchman and a merchant before returning to the Sahara where he meets the pilot. By the end of his story, the little prince and the pilot are both very thirsty, and they decide to walk and find water. They discover a well around daybreak, and together they savor the drink as well as their time together.

The little prince explains that the next day is the anniversary of his descent to Earth. He sends the pilot away to fix his plane and tells him to come meet him at the same spot the following evening. The pilot fixes his engine and returns the next evening to find the little prince conversing with the poisonous snake. The little prince warns the pilot that he must return to his planet and that it will "look a little as if I were dying." The little prince allows the snake to poison him, and he falls gently to the sand. The narrator is reassured by the fact that the little prince's body is gone the following day and believes that it means he made it back to asteroid B-612. He worries, however, whether the sheep he drew will eat the prince's rose.

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Book Reviews

Book Review: The Little Prince

Today’s book review will be on ‘The Little Prince’ by Antoine De Saint- Exupéry. Growing up as a child this was one of my favourite books with a very important life lesson to learn.

‘The little prince’ tells the story of a pilot stranded in the desert fixing his aeroplane, until one day he meets a little boy – the Little Prince. The Little Prince tells the pilot many stories of his magical journey from his little planet and of his encounters with different grown-ups. The story focuses on how grown-ups are only interested in figures or matters of very little importance in life, in which the Little Prince cannot understand. The story highlights how most grown-ups miss out on the simple things in life, such as friendship, love and the beauty of the world because they are too occupied with gaining wealth and power. They are tricked into believing that figures or having money is important, but their life has no meaning.

What I like most about ‘The Little Prince’ is the key message of:

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

It teaches the reader that it is important to look beneath the surface to truly understand something, which most people fail to do as they are only interested in the face-value of something, as demonstrated at the very beginning of the story. This is a very important message for any child or grown-up to understand, in which the book demonstrates very beautifully.

The story writing itself is kept very simple with no rhythm or rhyme, but the imagination and maturity of the story keeps the reader interested. Along with the use of drawings by the author to help the reader visualise some things which may be unfamiliar. Not everyone knows what ‘Baobabs’ are?

Overall I would recommend ‘The Little Prince’ to all children over the age of 8, as younger readers may fail to understand certain words or the key message being portrayed. They may also find the book too serious, lacking any fun or humour, while older readers will definitely appreciate the beautiful message in this old tale.

Final Book Ratings:

Imagination: 9/10

Illustrations: 7/10

Writing: 6/10

Message: 10/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

You can purchase your copy of ‘The Little Prince’ from Amazon or borrow a copy from your local library.

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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Review: The Little Prince
The Little Prince is the sort of book that will inspire wonder and reflection, even in the most cynical, and world-weary adult. And so, to end, my favourite quote from this poignant and profound novella: "The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.".
The Little Prince Summary
The story of ' The Little Prince ' has a simple structure in all ramifications. The book has 27 chapters, contains illustrations in the form of drawings, and has 109 pages. The author also mostly makes use of simple vocabulary. And this is a win for the book because simplicity is the heart of communication. Meaning can get lost in ...
Read the first reviews of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince
For I think that much of the wisest literature is that which seems written for children—stories of Aesop and Hans Christian Andersen, for example. And please consider those sentences my review of a beautiful book written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (Reynal & Hitchcock: $2). For here is a sweetly and simply ...
The Little Prince: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Timeless Novel
Book Description: 'The Little Prince' is a 1943 novel written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The story is a work of fantasy that follows the adventures of the little prince. The Little Prince is a novel based on fantasy. It tells a story of friendship, what should or what shouldn't be matters of consequence.
Book Review: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince might be a short and simple story, but don't be deceived: Saint-Exupéry poured his whole heart and soul into it. He wrote and illustrated the manuscript over the summer of '42, working "long hours with great concentration", usually at night (when he felt most creatively "free"), spurred on by truly scary ...
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Book Review: Moving classic
The Little Prince Book Synopsis . Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince.It comes third in the top five most translated books in the world, at around 300 translations.. Richard Howard's new translation of the beloved classic — published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's birth ...
The Little Prince
The Little Prince, fable and modern classic by French aviator and writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that was published with his own illustrations in French as Le Petit Prince in 1943. The simple tale tells the story of a child, the little prince, who travels the universe gaining wisdom. The novella has been translated into hundreds of languages and has sold some 200 million copies worldwide ...
Children's Books
THE LITTLE PRINCE. Written and illustrated by Joann Sfar. Translated by Sarah Ardizzone. Adapted from the book by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 110 pp. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. $19.99. (Ages 10 and ...
The Little Prince Summary
The Little Prince Summary. 1-Sentence-Summary: The Little Prince is a beautiful children's story full of valuable lessons for adults, recounting the tale of an aviator and a little boy from a distant planet, both stranded in the desert, looking to get home, sharing what they've learned about life. Read in: 4 minutes.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Richard Howard (Translator) 4.33. 2,172,576 ratings71,252 reviews. A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see, standing before him, the most extraordinary little fellow. "Please," asks the stranger, "draw me a sheep." And the pilot realizes that when life's events are too difficult to understand, there ...
Book Review: The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Published: 1943 Genres: Childrens, Classic Format: Paperback (83 pages) Source: Library Moral allegory and spiritual autobiography, The Little Prince is the most translated book in the French language. With a timeless charm it tells the story of a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny...
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Original title: Le Petit Prince. Author's Name: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Published: 6 April 1943. Literary Period: Modern Times. Genre: Adventure, fantasy; an adult fable, styled as a children's book. Climax: The little prince's death (or more appropriately, when the little prince dropped his shell and became a star).
The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Little Prince is an honest and beautiful story about loneliness, friendship, sadness, and love. The prince is a small boy from a tiny planet (an asteroid to be precise), who travels the universe, planet-to-planet, seeking wisdom. On his journey, he discovers the unpredictable nature of adults.
Book Review: The Little Prince
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was chosen by Amy for Carrie's Reading to Know Classics Book Club for June, and, at 85 pages, also happened to fit the novella or short classic category for my Back to the Classics Challenge.I read the 70th anniversary edition, which, thankfully, my library had, and which also includes a CD of the story read by Viggo Mortenson (Aragorn in the ...
The Little Prince Book Review
Parents need to know that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, first published in 1943, is a classic fable about a stranded pilot's encounter with a young prince who travels from planet to planet in search of knowledge. This gentle book looks like it's a book for children, but it's generally better appreciated and enjoyed by an older audience.
Book Review: The Little Prince
Review. The Little Prince is a story about a pilot who crash lands in the middle of a desert, attempting to repair his broken plane. Whilst he tries to do so, he meets a strange young boy who he calls the "little prince," and ignites an odd friendship with the boy. I've found that my experience in reading this classic tale has been different ...
The Little Prince Summary
The narrator, a pilot, crash-lands his plane in the Sahara desert. While he tries to repair his engine and monitor his dwindling supply of water and food, a little boy appears out of nowhere and simply asks him to draw a sheep. The author then learns that this "little prince" comes from the far away Asteroid B-612, where he left a rose and ...
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Plot Summary
The Little Prince Summary. The narrator, the pilot, crashes in the Sahara desert. He attempts to fix his engine, knowing that he only has a limited supply of water. As he begins to work on the engine, however, he hears a small voice asking him to draw a sheep. The narrator turns around to meet t he little prince, and after making several ...
The Little Prince
The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince, pronounced [lə p(ə)ti pʁɛ̃s]) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published posthumously in France following liberation; Saint-Exupéry's works had been banned by the Vichy ...
The Little Prince: Book Review
Imagination: 9/10. Illustrations: 7/10. Writing: 6/10. Message: 10/10. Overall Rating: 8/10. You can purchase your copy of 'The Little Prince' from Amazon or borrow a copy from your local library. Marty the Wizard. Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he ...

Review: The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

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The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Book Review: Moving classic

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Lesson 1: If we don’t apply our imagination to our sensory observations, we’ll miss the point of life.

Lesson 2: Adulthood comes with 6 common ruts, but we can get out of them if we’re willing to take an honest look in the mirror.

Lesson 3: The most important things in life aren’t things we can see or touch — and friendship is one of them.

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