nicanical

The Little Prince is narrated by a pilot stranded in the Sahara. The pilot meets a small, young boy (the little prince of the title) who has left his home on an asteroid to travel. The prince shares his experiences with the pilot, experiences which touch on loneliness, regret, and loss.

This is one of those children's books that can delight readers of all ages. Some parts are banal, like those criticizing grown-ups. Other parts, like the love of the rose, and the taming of the fox, have depth enough for even adult readers.

If reading this in English, you should know that there's fervor over which translation is best; mainly between Katherine Wood's—the first, flowery, with mistakes—and Richard Howard's—modern, stiff, but accurate.

I read Michael Morpurgo's English translation and it's good. It's a modern translation straight from the original French, so it passes the sheep test (an error in Woods's translation, propagated to other translations). And the tenor of Morpurgo's translation is gentle and guiding, not stiff as Howard's allegedly is. Morpurgo is known for his own children's books, so I imagine he took care to make the tone approachable here.