On June 29, 1900 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born in Lyon. His name is known all around the world to generations because of a little book he wrote, Le Petit Prince. Today is known as World Petit Prince day and is dedicated to the story of the young boy who was trying to figure out life by looking below the surface. It is much more than a children's book and is one that can teach us even as we grow older.
Antoine was a writer and a pilot and at the start of WWII he left for the US. In the summer of 1942 he wrote the story based a bit on him, his wife Consuelo and a few friends. At the same time he was writing he was drawing the story, the two inspired each other. In April of 1943 it was first published in English in the US, the French version couldn’t be published until after the Liberation of Paris.
Recently the Musée des Arts Decoratifs held an exhibit featuring the first manuscript of the story. Held in NY at the Morgan Library it left for France for the very first time last winter. The exhibit was amazing and looking at the original drawings and edits this amazing author did was one of those pinch me moments.
Saint-Exupéry died on July 31, 1944 when his P-38 went down near Corsica in the Mediterranean. The wreckage was found in 2000 but the cause is still unknown. Sadly, he never saw the publication in his native France before he died. Today it is the 2nd most translated book in the world after the Bible. In over 500 languages it’s sold more than 200 million copies with 5 million copies each year. It might be the most popular children's item to come out of France next to that giraffe.
I still have the copy my grandma gave me when I was a child and cherish it. Have you read it?
“The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen.”
“He sat down. I sat down next to him. And after a silence, he spoke again. 'The stars are beautiful because of a flower you don't see...' I answered, 'Yes, of course.”
"Make your life a dream, and a dream, a reality." Le Petit Prince
