In her book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott says, “For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”


My hope is that this is what books become to you—as important as almost anything else on earth. This blog is about helping you find the miracle in these small, flat, rigid squares of paper while you are in middle school and beyond. Once you read alongside me, you are forever a member of my tribe of readers. No matter how you old you are, when you need to be reminded of the power of a good story, you will find me here, waiting to place one in your hands.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry


copyright date: 1943
primarily marketed for: everyone

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint- Exupéry was a reread for me.  I read this book for the first time when I was in high school.  All I remembered about it was that I expected it to be too complex for me to understand, and I was surprised when at its charming simplicity.  I always remember feeling like I had a special place in my heart for The Little Prince, but I didn’t remember exactly why.

It was written so long ago and is translated from French that it is no wonder I first expected to find its meaning elusive.  However, I am sure that if you pick up this book, it will nestle itself into a special place in your heart as well.

Simply, The Little Prince is the story of a clever man who has never lost the child inside of himself and finds himself stranded in the desert after a plan crash.  In the desert, he happens upon the little prince who is traveling to earth from his distant asteroid, seemingly on a journey of discovery. 

It is through the little prince’s questions, conversation, and stories that the narrator learns about life.  Although everything the little prince shares seems rather simplistic, there is always a bigger idea to be discovered within it if you dig deep enough. 

This book has to be one of the books most often quoted.  The little prince shares so much worldly wisdom that as a reader I couldn’t help but take a line or two away to carry in my heart after closing the book: 
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
and
“Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups.  I have had to grow old.”

Make time for this little book in your life.  It is short and even has pictures!  What’s not to love?

Reading Threads:
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
The Human Comedy by William Saroyan
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

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2 comments:

  1. The first time I read it I wept...and I read it in French in my junior year French class. Then I read it in English my Senior year. there was something evocative about the French language that the English, while close, did not capture. That's why all my personal emails sign off with this tagline: "J'aime bien les couchers de soleil. Allons voir un coucher de soleil..."
    I am very fond of sunsets. Come, let us go look at a sunset...
    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince

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  2. Since the first time this book became one of mi favourites. My mother reads me the book when I was on the kindergarden, after a few years I read it and since then I used to read it a couple of times per year, I love tis book, cause it's magic, everytime I read it again I find out a new world, a different meaning and other lesson to learn, makes me see the beauty of the life and the kind of things that are importan like love, friends, emotions and not just numbers or time. Anyway I'm just trying to say that it's an amazing history, fro kids and adult who still see the world beyond the appearence....

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