It is billed as a children's classic but I'd say it for children of all ages.
It starts with a wonderful dedication page which sets up the book as one dedicated to children and adults who can still appreciate child-like things:
TO LEON WERTH. I ask children to forgive me for dedicating the book to a grown-up. I have a serious excuse: this grown-up is the best friend I have in the world. I have another excuse: this grown-up can understand everything, even books for children. I have a third excuse: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs to be comforted. If all these excuses are not enough, then I want to dedicate this book to the child whom this grown-up once was. All grown-ups were children first. (bet few of them remember it.) So I correct my dedication: TO LEON WERTH, when he was a little boy.I started out listening to the audiobook but the illustrations were referenced so I had to grab the print edition to look at them. The book is full of charming illustrations like this:
All illustrations were done by Saint-Exupery himself.
It is a darling story about the importance of friendship and the problems with narrow-mindedness full of memorable quotes.
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”
“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.”
“The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.”The book is a mere 83 pages long. Take an hour or so and immerse yourself in this wonderful tale.
Rating 5/5
Thanx! I also read this one in h.s. Time for a reread one day.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful excerpts! I love the final part of the dedication, to the child within the grown-up. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI read this in gradeschool...hated it. But after years of listening to people whose opinion I valued praise it, I gave it another read as an adult and absolutely loved it. One of my favorite excerpts, the fox tells the Little Prince, "you risk tears if you let yourself be tamed."
ReplyDeleteI'm suspicious that this book is too deep for the average child to understand really. That is a wonderful quote you found, very deep.
Deletealways loved this one. Great quotes.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite book. When I think of this today, it breaks my heart a little. It makes me think about a child's innocence when they first read it, and how much me grow into adulthood and become the adults in this book. What a sad way to look at it, but natural at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI need to immerse myself in it. Thanks!
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