The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

What can I say about The Little Prince that hasn’t already been said? It’s one of the best-selling books in history, with an estimated 200 million copies sold. It’s been translated into over 500 languages and dialects, making it one of the most translated books ever. It’s required reading in schools from France and Argentina to Mexico and the United States. The Little Prince himself appears on postal stamps, coins, and has his own museum in Japan. Quotes, like “One sees clearly only with the heart,” are among the most cited lines in all of literature.

I read The Little Prince for the first time a few years ago; I had packed it for a trip, but ended up finishing it that night before I even left (whoops). Since then, I’ve recommended it multiple times and reread it before writing this review.

The unnamed narrator begins by reflecting on the perplexing nature of adults and their seeming inability to recognize what truly matters. To test them, he shows a drawing of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant, but adults always mistake it for a hat. Frustrated, he knows to limit his conversations with them to “reasonable” topics like the stock market and the weather.

Years later, the narrator, now a pilot, crashes in the Sahara Desert. While working to repair his plane, a golden-haired boy appears and introduces himself as the “little prince,” a traveler from another world seeking wisdom. The narrator decides to share his drawing, and the little prince is the first to interpret it correctly. The story unfolds over the next eight days, as the narrator slowly runs out of water and the prince recounts his travels.

Despite being a short and simple read — my copy is 84 pages — The Little Prince is deep. The prince has visited six other planets, each inhabited by a single, narrow-minded adult. Saint-Exupéry uses these characters to critique common societal flaws, from materialism to vanity. People from Picasso to Bezos have spoken about the value of a childlike imagination, and this book reminds us of that.

During my reread, it felt a bit more childish than I remembered — no surprise, since it is a children’s book — but I still really enjoyed it. It’s a simple but engaging story with timeless themes, similar in feel to The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I think it would be a great book to read with kids, since both the adults and children could get something out of it. On your own, it’s a read that most people could finish in two hours-ish, not a huge commitment so definitely worth giving it a shot.

A fun fact: much of Saint-Exupéry’s writing closely resembles his own life. In the 1930s, he survived a solo plane crash in the Sahara Desert. Stranded for days, he walked miles in the heat while hallucinating before being rescued by a passing Bedouin. Tragically, in 1944, Saint-Exupéry disappeared during a WWII reconnaissance flight over Europe, and his wrecked plane wasn’t discovered until more than 60 years later.