This little gem of a book washed over me like a warm bath…comforting, cleansing, soothing, and relaxing. The story of the diminutive royal who travels the galaxy, learning, questioning, challenging, and teaching is one with universal lessons that I think would appeal to just about anyone.
The story of the little prince is relayed to us by an unnamed narrator who has broken down in the desert and is trying to fix his plane when the titular prince stumbles upon him, asking him to draw a sheep. And thus we find out all sorts of things, like how the Prince is the sole human inhabitant of a small planet with three volcanoes and a unique flower.
As the story opens, the narrator shows us how he is not very good at drawing and gave it up at an early age, due to some grown-ups who don’t understand how to see beyond what is obvious or “of consequence.” However, at the Little Prince’s urging draws a sheep. Which the Prince rejects. Two others follow, both rejected for various reasons. Finally, the narrator draws a box and tells the Prince the sheep is inside. What could be seen as an attempt to just avoid the Prince’s request could also be taken as the moment the narrator let his imagination loose again.
The rest of the book is relaying the Prince’s travels, and how he fell in love with a flower, and in the process unravels the meaning that many grown-ups look part when they become adults. My favorite lesson is this:
“The men where you live,” said the little prince, “raise five thousand roses in the same garden – and they do not find in it what they are looking for.”
“They do not find it,” I replied.
“And yet what they are looking for could be could be found in one single rose, or in a little water.”
“Yes, that is true,” I said.
And the little prince added:
“But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart…”
It’s simple, but so true.
Cannonball Read V 