Good Night, Gorilla
Peggy Rathmann’s “Good Night, Gorilla” is a magical bedtime story for very young and older children about falling asleep and waking up, about feeling secure and about being at home.
7. January 2024
The Little Prince
22 June 2024 I 1001Childrensbooks
Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; Illustration: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; Translation: Richard Howard; Publisher: Clarion Books; Age recommendation: 6 years and up; Year of publication: 1943; Year of German edition: 2016 (24th edition); Pages: 96; Binding: hardcover
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s “The Little Prince” is a masterpiece of world literature, accessible to children and adults. It is an incredibly sad and incredibly beautiful story about what life is really about: love and connection.
The little prince lives on his little planet B 612 and wishes for a friend. To his delight, one day a rose grows in his garden. The two become friends, but after a while the little prince realises that he can no longer stand his rose’s moodiness. So he sets off in search of a new home. He visits numerous planets and gets to know the most diverse inhabitants in order to finally understand where he belongs.
“The Little Prince” is a touching children’s book. De Saint-Exupéry knows how to meet children at eye level like very few authors and he knows how to convey to his adult readers what it means to think like children and what magic lies in this. “The Little Prince” is simple in its plot and easy to understand, even for young readers: He embarks on a journey and finds new acquaintances and friends in every place, who surprise and amaze him with their different and new way of life. He learns and through every journey and every encounter he understands the world in all its facets a little better.
However, “The Little Prince” is also an incredibly sad book. It is a book about a child who realises at the beginning of the story that his friend is no longer good for him and that he must separate from her in order to make real friends and live his own life. But it is also a child who realises at the end of the story that the bonds you have woven throughout your life must not simply be cut, as you bear responsibility for everything you have “made familiar”. It is a book about a child who chooses suicide in the end to be with his friend. And a book about a friend of this child who initially thinks that he cannot bear this death and is then brave enough to come along and accompany his friend as he dies.
“The Little Prince” is the best-selling French children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books ever, with around 200 million copies sold (currently in second place – behind Harry Potter). De Saint-Exupéry’s masterpiece is such a deep, sad and loving story about friendship and connection that one wonders how so many people, young and old, could read the book and there is still so much misunderstanding and rejection in the world.
If you could only take one children’s book to a desert island, “The Little Prince” would be a very good choice.
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