“The Little Prince” by Antoine De Saint-Exupery is a sweet fable of a pilot who crashes in the desert and runs into a young boy who tells of his story of the asteroid where he lives and the other asteroids he has visited inhabited by a single adult. Each asteroid that he visits he gets to know the adult and their ridiculous idiosyncrasies such as the King who demands obedience but has no subjects and the narcissist who so desperately wants to be admired. The Prince tells of the Rose on his planet who he fell in love with but had to leave due to her vain. While exploring Earth together, the pilot learns the lessons the child has to offer such as openness and curiosity. Together they run into a fox who teaches an important lesson of relationships and love. When the lessons are learned, the prince allows a snake he meets to bite him in order to return him to his asteroid to be with his rose.
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”
This book is delightful in its simplicity but also a great reminder of how serious we take life and ourselves as adults. We oftentimes miss the point entirely as we are wrapped up in ourselves and our roles. We miss, forget, or take for granted the relationships we have established. We are quick to judgment about others and are too focused on the mind and how we think. We forget about our feelings.
This book will not take up much of your time but can be quite impactful. It’s filled with illustrations on just about every page. As a bonus, a movie version is available on Netflix here. I was surprised that the movie version was not just about the story Saint-Exupery writes but an even sweeter relationship between the pilot and his young neighbor.
Read this book if:
- You are in need of a reminder of the innocence, curiosity, and wisdom that children hold
- In the mood for a endearing fable
Saint-Exupéry, A. D. (2018). The Little Prince. NY, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.