Quest book review- Cindy Hurst- The Little Prince- REVISED

Exupery, Antoine De Saint. The Little Prince New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1971.


An aviator makes a crash landing in the Sahara Desert where he encounters the little prince. At first glance, he is but a child. But upon further inspection, the aviator as the narrator learns a great deal about the little prince and the journey that brought him to earth. He learns about how the prince left his planet after becoming mistrusting of his one and only rose on his tiny little planet. He also learns of the various “strange” grown-ups that the prince met during his travels. Each of them had an attribute that men acquire as they get older: Desire for power, desire to be admired, desire to forget what they are ashamed of rather than fixing the problem, the desire for wealth, the desire to do one’s job well, the desire to discover something new, but overall the desire to be important. While on earth he finds a garden of roses that look and smell exactly like his own and is upset that he had once thought his rose was so important for being so unique. However, he then meets a fox that teaches him “Anything essential is invisible to the eyes. It’s the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.” The time comes for the little prince to return to his planet. He explains to the aviator that it is ok that he is leaving because when they look at the stars, they will think of each other.

I chose “The Little Prince” as my quest book because it speaks of truths that today’s society has forgotten; that I myself have become victim to forget. It shares the little prince's quest for understanding. I resonate with the truth that he finds. In my own life, I have become very much amazed by the things that are overlooked from being taught in our public school system, that have taken me 20 years to figure out. “Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” It speaks of friendship, of loyalty, and of the importance of spending time on that which is most important-- with those you care about. I like how it presents this theme in its simplicity; in a child’s book. And yet, its wisdom is best learned from adults who read it. It is easy to get carried away becoming occupied with what society has pushed us towards caring about. The author did a good job of presenting these mundane things that adults tend to care too much about, by giving each characteristic its own character that the little prince visits.

I first read The Little Prince this summer as a counselor at camp to a group of 14-year-old girls each night. Perhaps they were too young to understand how us adults loose track of what is really important because I’m pretty sure I enjoyed reading it to them far more than they enjoyed listening to it. However, I think a younger audience would also be suitable as it is written as a child’s book. It would probably benefit anyone starting to enter the adult world the most however, such as high schoolers that are preparing for college or the work force. It would never be too late to read however. I recommend it to everyone.