Critical Assessment

“My friend Nell knew a little boy who was a real terror, and, much to her surprise, he grew up and turned out to be a superb father. ‘How do you do it?’ she once asked. ‘What makes you such a good dad?’ ‘The Little Prince,’ he told her. ‘I’ve always loved that book, and whenever I need help, I just think about what advice it has.’ Yes, this is a book that teaches the important things in life, and teaches [them] well. Nell’s friend is hardly alone in his reverence, since The Little Prince is said to be rated just below the Bible as one of the most widely read books in the world. In fact, that little fellow has kept translators busy telling the tale in 95 different languages. In honor of the 100th anniversary of Saint-Exupéry’s birth, Harcourt has issued a new English translation from the French by award-winning translator Richard Howard, complete with newly restored art. And what a treat it is, whether you’re an old fan or a newcomer to this special story.”

Alice Cary, “The Little Prince,” BookPage, June 2000.

First Excerpt

“The little prince went to look at the roses again.

“‘You’re not at all like my rose. You’re nothing at all yet,’ he told them. ‘No one has tamed you and you haven’t tamed anyone. You’re the way my fox was. He was just a fox like a hundred thousand others. But I’ve made him my friend, and now he’s the only fox in all the world.’

“And the roses were humbled.

“‘You’re lovely, but you’re empty,’ he went on. ‘One couldn’t die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would think my rose looked just like you. But my rose, all on her own, is more important than all of you together, since she’s the one I’ve watered. Since she’s the one I put under glass. Since she’s the one I sheltered behind a screen. Since she’s the one for whom I killed the caterpillars (except the two or three for butterflies). Since she’s the one I listened to when she complained, or when she boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing at all. Since she’s my rose.'”

Second Excerpt

“‘All men have the stars,’ he answered, ‘but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You — you alone — will have the stars as no one else has them –‘

“‘What are you trying to say?’

“‘In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . . You — only you — will have stars that can laugh!’

“And he laughed again.

“‘And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, “Yes, the stars always make me laugh!” And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you . . .’