The Little Prince (Little Prince, #1)

by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I'd never heard of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry until becoming a book blogger. Other bloggers have raved about it being one of their favourite children's classics, and how much it meant to them, so when I was offered the opportunity to review it, I decided to see why it is so dearly loved. Now I completely understand.

When a pilot crashes in the Sahara, with only eight days to fix his plane before his water runs out, the last thing he expects is to meet a Little Prince - a young boy from another planet. The Little Prince regales the pilot with stories of his tiny home planet, with it's three volcanoes (one extinct, but "you never know"!) and his flower - a vain and arrogant flower - but one he loves dearly, and of the many moral lessons he learns on his travels to other planets before he comes to Earth. The Little Prince teaches the pilot so many things, and is forever changed by the little boy.

The Little Prince is such a wonderful, wonderful story! I was absolutely bowled over by this sweet little boy and the insight that comes through because  of his innocence. I was moved by his relationship with his flower and the love he felt for it, and how something (or someone) can be so special and important to you, even if there are others quite a lot like it. There's also something brilliant to be said about platonic love and friendship, no matter how short, and the line, "It was worth it for the colour of wheat", really touched me. Other discussions covered by The Little Prince are on superiority, materialism and ownership, work, loneliness; it's written in a way that everything seems really obvious, but, despite this being a children's book, I did have a few light bulb moments. The topics covered were obvious, but it's the way the Little Prince talks about them, his perspective, that really opened my eyes.

The Little Prince is a beautiful story, and I absolutely loved it. I can completely understand why this book is such a classic, and I'm sure it will be marvelling readers for years to come.

Thank you to Alma Classics for the review copy.