FanOfWords's Reviews > The Little Prince

Translated into countless languages the world over, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's surrealist children's story is a firm favourite among many, including singer-songwriter Morrissey, seen reading it in the music video for his single, Suedehead. It is a plea for adults to reflect on what they prioritise as 'matters of consequence' in a world increasingly obsessed with 'figures'. Our narrator is a pilot, like Saint-Exupéry, who once held ambitions to be an artist as a child, until two of his drawings were misinterpreted by adults, after which he was compelled towards a life of aviation. Crashing in an African desert, he meets the eponymous 'little prince', from a planet so small it can experience up to 45 sunsets a day. The prince recounts the journey which took him so far from home, and his encounters with a variety of absurd characters. Though a children's book – featuring simple but evocative illustrations also by Saint-Exupéry – its message is one to which many an adult can still relate.