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Summary: An Existential Children's Book that Adults Need to Read
Review: If you're familiar with Martin Buber's "I-Thou" (where each person confirms others as having unique value) and his "I-It" (where each person knows and uses others but does not really see or value them for themselves) you'll find these concepts exemplified in the story of The Little Prince. This relation is made evident through Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's juxtaposition of seeing the world through the eyes of a child with seeing it as an adult. In the first few pages the narrator explains that as a child he drew a picture of a boa digesting an elephant. When he showed it to adults they could only see a hat--meaning that it's hard for adults to understand what children see and imagine because the adult's take things for granted and at face value. He keeps the drawing wishing of someday finding another who sees it as he does, but since the narrator is now an adult he too is losing touch with the uniqueness of the world around him. When he meets the Little Prince he shows him the picture, the Prince identifies it as a boa digesting an elephant, and they become friends. Eventually the narrator comes to the realization that because of his friendship with the Little Prince he can now see what's important in life. Through the Little Prince he again learns to see the world through the innocent eyes of a child. In a nutshell: the Little Prince helps him reinvent his individuality and rediscover his childhood innocence. This is a great book.
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Summary: Good, but a little too abstract!
Review: This was a good book but it was a little too deep for me. If you like deep books this is the one for you! It's also a little confusing. The piolt's drawing is very odd.
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Summary: Classic Story, Flawed Translations.
Review: I would recommend this book to anyone. It is a sincere, imaginative story, full of memorable situations and characters. It is a simple children's story, with a fundamental message that is simple and timeless. For me that message is: be loyal to yourself and those you love, and don't allow yourself to become corrupted by "adult" concerns (greed, lust, power, conformity). Of course, the book is open to interpretation and elaboration, which is part of what makes it so wonderful. Now, about those translations.. I don't believe, like some here do, that the new translation is as devastating a fiasco as New Coke. Both translations are flawed. Katherine Woods writes with such lyrical prose, she can't help but bring out the haunting beauty of the story. Many of her well chosen phrases perfectly convey the gravity of events, and the heartbreaking loveliness of the title character. Ultimately, though, the book was written for children, and I know few children who can genuinely appreciate her writing style. Some adults may think differently, but, really, how many children would know what an 'abode' is, or understand passages such as "I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems"? Be honest. The new translation overcorrects this problem, though. True to Antoine De Saint-Exupery's intentions, it aims itself more squarely at children. Unfortunately, in the end it comes accross as too informal, lacking much of the poetic depth found in the original and the first translation. However, it does fix some errors that were probably due to sloppiness (speedy translation, I guess?) and should have been fixed by now, and the restored illustrations are an improvement. The power of the story holds up, despite the language being "dumbed down" a good bit. My solution is this: if you are an adult reading for the first time, or loved the first translation, skip the new one. If you are wanting to read the story to your child, buy the new translation and get a copy of the old as well. Read the new one to your child now, and graduate them to the old one when they can get through it without the constant use of a dictionary. I think they will get more out of the story without being held back by complex prose, and if you read it to them, hey, you can always embellish by transposing some of Woods's interpretations. Best of all would be to encourage them to learn French so that they could read the original version, which remains both poetic and accessible - a book worthy of the highest praise.
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Summary: What is important in your life?
Review: The first time I read this book was in secondary school. At that time, it was just a story to me. It was about the journey of a little prince from planet to planet. A few years later, I read this book again. The feeling is totally different. It is not simply a story. It can make me be aware of the baobabs in the adult world, the world I begin to go into. It also reminds me of what is important in my life. Adults, in general, are superficial. They only know to work, work and work. They would like to do what other people do. And they are indulged in command and obey without asking why, just like the kings, conceited men, drunkards, businessmen, lamplighters and geographers. Rarely do they think about the meaning of their life. Why are adults occupied by baobabs? Why can't they find what are important in their life? How about you? Do you find what is important in your life? The little prince has already found - Love with the rose and friendship with the pilot and fox. Don't be occupied by baobabs. "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes" Then can you find what is important in your life.
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Summary: Read it for your kids and for you
Review: This isn't just a children's book. The Little Prince is a message of love and compassion for people of any age. Other reviewers have summarized the story and explored its lessons at length, but you can't appreciate how profoundly meaningful and beautiful this story is until you've made it your own. You can read it in a sitting, but it will stay with you for life.
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Summary: One of the greatest children's books ever written. . .
Review: . . .and extremely profound for "grown-ups" as well. Antoine De Saint-Exupery's timeless classic "The Little Prince" should be on the shelf of every child -- especially the homeschooled child -- in America. It teaches love, friendship, commitment, perseverence, etc. all with a wonderful dose of humor aided by the rich illustrations of the author. The book is also useful for teaching children about the very real evils in the world: greed, hate, fear, etc. It also explores death in a serious yet incredibly tender way. Parents, get this book and read it with your children. You will never be sorry you did so. (As a matter of personal preference, I prefer the older English-language translation to the recent re-do -- but that is a minor point.) It is interesting to note that not long after writing this book, De Saint-Exupery was himself lost in a plane over the Sahara. Neither he nor his plane were ever recovered.
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Summary: the best book for all
Review: i read this in a week, my brother gave it to me. I was already writing my own similar story and so i found it fascinating. the exploration of decay of mind with, not so much age as exposure to non pure thoughts. genius. only just learned about the writer,thats not good.
Rating: 
Summary: Great
Review: I haven't read the whole book yet but so far I've enjoyed reading it. My mommy told me about this story and, so I stated reading it although I haven't finished reading it I like it. I recommened this book strongly to others. By the way if anyone likes Morrissey in one of his music videos he is holding this book. So I think he'd recommened this book to.
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Summary: Great book for all ages
Review: Really fantastic! First time I read this book when I was a kid and I liked it. It looked strange to me that time but I loved this very special, very St. Exupery way of telling. Kind of poetry written as novel, really rare kind of describing and bringing things up. I read it again recently and now I'm 30. It was like good wine, it aged with me and I like the taste of the book again. It is more important than ever, I can appreciate other sides of the book which I missed as a kid. Nice and serious reading. I recommend other books by the author as well.
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Summary: An English Translation Worth Reading
Review: I, having loved The Little Prince for several years now, will not attempt to put into words how I feel about this book nor the amazing respect I have towards its creator. Anyone who loves The Little Prince as I do will understand my silence. I do however have some things to say about the translation of Mr. Richard Howard. Having read The Little Prince in its original French version I was astounded by the inconsistencies of the previous standard English translation by Ms Katherine Woods. She reconstructed many sentences and used the words "child" and "little man" interchangeably and the error that angered me most: Ms Woods completely eliminated the sentence [...] from the description of the repeated landscape. As readers of the English language we all can agree that "Time soothes all sorrows" hits harder than "Everyone eventually is consoled." But no one can deny that the later is a more precise translation [....] One may find Ms Woods' version more poetic, but it lacks the authenticity of Mr. Howard's. I encourage all readers of Ms. Woods' translation to pick up a copy of Mr. Howard's. It will anger you, I guarantee it. The words that comforted you for years, the lines that seemed to change your life, no longer exist in this novel. But if we truly want to love The Little Prince in the way Antoine de Saint-Exupéry envisioned him (without taking the time to learn the French language) we must open ourselves up to this, in my opinion, much better translation.
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