The Little Prince facts for kids

The Little Prince (French: Le Petit Prince) is a famous children's book written by the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first released in the United States in both English and French in 1943. The book was published in France after Saint-Exupéry went missing in 1944.

The story tells about a young prince who travels to different planets, including Earth. During his journey, he learns important lessons about life, friendship, and love.

The Story Begins

The book's narrator is a grown-up who shares memories from his childhood. When he was six years old, he read a book about wild animals in the jungle. Inspired, he drew a picture of a snake eating an elephant. However, the grown-ups around him thought his drawing looked like a hat.

The narrator grew up to become a pilot. One day, his plane crashed in the middle of the Sahara desert. He had only enough water to survive for eight days.

Meeting the Little Prince

While stranded in the desert, the pilot meets a mysterious young boy. This boy is the Little Prince. The prince asks the pilot to draw a sheep for him. The pilot tries to draw, but the prince is not happy with his first attempts.

Finally, the pilot draws a box and tells the prince the sheep is inside. The Little Prince loves this drawing. He explains that he comes from a very small asteroid called B-612.

The Prince's Home Planet

The Little Prince tells the pilot about his tiny home planet. It is so small that he can watch the sunset many times a day just by moving his chair. His planet has three small volcanoes and some special plants.

He spends his days cleaning his volcanoes and pulling out baobab sprouts. If baobab trees grow too big, their roots could split his small planet apart.

The Rose on Asteroid B-612

One day, a beautiful, unique rose grows on the Little Prince's planet. The prince cares for the rose very much. He waters it and protects it with a glass globe. He also builds a screen to shield it from the wind.

The rose is proud and sometimes a bit demanding. The Little Prince loves her, but he also feels confused by her words. Because of this, he decides to leave his planet and explore the universe.

The Prince's Journey

Before coming to Earth, the Little Prince visits several other asteroids. Each asteroid is home to a single grown-up. He meets a king who rules over nothing and a vain man who only wants praise.

He also meets a drunkard who drinks to forget he is ashamed of drinking. There is a businessman who counts stars, thinking he owns them. The prince also meets a lamplighter who constantly lights and puts out a lamp. Finally, he meets a geographer who studies places but never visits them.

Lessons on Earth

When the Little Prince arrives on Earth, he lands in the Sahara desert. He is surprised to find a garden full of thousands of roses. He thought his rose was unique, but now he sees many like her. This makes him feel sad.

Then, he meets a fox. The fox teaches him an important lesson about friendship. The fox explains that to truly know someone, you must "tame" them. This means building a special connection and spending time together. The fox tells the prince, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

The fox also tells the prince that his rose is special because of the time and love he has given her. This makes her unique to him, even if there are other roses in the world.

The Pilot's Understanding

The pilot listens to the Little Prince's stories. He starts to understand things differently. He realizes that grown-ups often focus on numbers and facts, missing what is truly important. The Little Prince helps him remember the value of imagination and feelings.

The pilot eventually fixes his plane. The Little Prince decides it is time to return to his own planet and his beloved rose. He explains that he will leave his body behind, but his spirit will travel back home.

A Lasting Message

The Little Prince's story teaches us many things. It reminds us to look beyond what we see with our eyes. It encourages us to value friendship, love, and imagination. The book shows that the most important things in life are often simple and felt with the heart.

It is a story that both children and grown-ups can enjoy and learn from.

Images for kids

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  Saint-Exupéry next to his downed Simoun after crashing into the Sahara (Egypt, 1935).

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  The Rose in The Little Prince was likely inspired by Saint-Exupéry's Salvadoran wife, Consuelo (Montreal, 1942).

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  The writer-aviator on Lac Saint-Louis during a speaking tour (Quebec, 1942).

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  The Bevin House on Long Island, one of the places where The Little Prince was written in 1942.

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  Two editions of The Little Prince (lower left in French and upper right in English) at the French Air and Space Museum, Le Bourget, Paris (2008).

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  A short 45 RPM demo recording by Richard Burton narrating The Little Prince. Burton won a Grammy Award for his narration (1975).

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  One of many stage adaptations of Saint-Exupéry's fable, this one at the University of Minnesota's Rarig Center Proscenium (2010).

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  A sculpture of the lamplighter in a "story playground" themed after The Little Prince in Holon, Israel.

See also

In Spanish: El principito para niños