The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Illustration for The Folio Society edition of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry © the Estate of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Société Civile pour l’Oeuvre et la Memoire d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)


I first read Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince as a child, it was the first book I picked up that I was aware was old (rather a classic) but in my mind then I knew it was considered a good book because it was still in print. It was illustrated but as the pictures were black, white & grey I focused more on the story and Saint-Exupery’s words whisked me away on the tale of the aviator and the Little Prince.

Flash forward to the present-time some 30-odd years later and I revisited The Little Prince again and not for the first time; I had previously read the graphic adaptation by acclaimed French graphic novelist Joann Sfar – a beautiful volume that appears to have sailed under the radar of many readers.

Illustration for The Folio Society edition of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry © the Estate of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Société Civile pour l’Oeuvre et la Memoire d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)


However rereading the novel with Saint-Exupery’s illustrations in the colours he originally used lifts the story from classic of literature into high art. Once again the Folio Society has made my jaw drop with this beautiful slip-cased, two-volume set comprising the story (the year 2000 translation) and the full colour illustrations.

The companion volume is purely a thing of beauty, from rough sketches to finished pieces the artwork contained in this slim volume gives the reader some insight Saint-Exupery crafted his illustrations. The artwork alongside the thoughtful commentary by Christine Nelson, giving a precis of the story and a critique of the work make this a must-have for fans of classic works for children.

Illustration for The Folio Society edition of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry © the Estate of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Société Civile pour l’Oeuvre et la Memoire d’Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

The Folio Society edition of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, introduced by Stacy Schiff and translated by Richard Howard, is exclusively available from www.foliosociety.com

One Thought on “The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

  1. Agnès Guyon on October 13, 2017 at 4:34 pm said:

    I love that book! My primary teacher read it to us and we could draw our responses and I can still remember it vividly. It has a bit of a cult following in France…

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