I remembered this as a sweet, slightly strange children's book from being read it as a kid. Rereading it as an adult, going through a genuinely hard year, I found something closer to a quiet gut-punch about grief, attachment, and how adults systematically stop seeing what actually matters — hidden inside what still reads perfectly well as a children's story.
A Children's Book That Was Never Only for Children
Saint-Exupéry wrote this in 1943 while in exile during World War II, and while it's marketed and beloved as a children's book, the actual layers underneath — a downed pilot's existential crisis in the desert, the prince's grief over a flower he loved and left, meditations on mortality and meaning that Saint-Exupéry was working through as an adult facing real war and personal loss — are genuinely adult concerns wrapped in deceptively simple, whimsical language and imagery. Reading it as a child, you get the surface story; reading it as an adult, especially during a hard period, you get something considerably heavier.
"What Is Essential Is Invisible to the Eye"
The fox's famous line to the prince — that what's truly important can't be seen with the eyes, only understood with the heart — has become almost a cliché through overuse in other contexts, but returning to its actual origin in the book, in the context of the fox teaching the prince about the nature of taming and real relationship, restores real weight to a phrase that's been flattened by repetition elsewhere. The full fox chapter, read slowly, is genuinely one of the more affecting passages on attachment and love I've encountered in any book, adult or children's.
The Adults the Prince Meets, and Why They Still Sting
Each grown-up the prince encounters on his journey across different planets — the king obsessed with authority over nothing, the businessman counting stars he can't actually use, the lamplighter trapped in meaningless repetitive duty — is a specific, pointed satire of a particular kind of adult self-deception, and reading through them as an actual adult is uncomfortable in the way genuinely good satire always is; you recognize yourself, at least partially, in more than one of them.
Why This Edition Specifically
This premium illustrated hardcover preserves Saint-Exupéry's own original watercolor illustrations at a larger, higher-quality print than most mass-market paperback editions offer, and given how integral the illustrations are to the book's actual meaning — the prince's drawings and the narrator's failed attempts to draw a sheep are central plot and thematic elements, not decoration — a well-produced edition genuinely matters here more than it would for a purely text-based book. This is the edition I'd actually recommend keeping and rereading, rather than a disposable paperback.
An Honest Note on Expectations
If you're looking for a straightforward, uncomplicated children's story to read with a young child without engaging the deeper adult themes, this works perfectly well on that surface level too — kids generally enjoy the whimsical planet-hopping adventure without needing to grasp the grief and mortality themes underneath. Don't feel obligated to over-explain the deeper layers to a child reading it; the book genuinely works on both levels simultaneously, which is part of its lasting appeal.
Who Should Read This
Genuinely everyone, but particularly anyone rereading it as an adult for the first time since childhood, anyone processing grief or a significant loss, or anyone who wants to give a gift-quality book that works meaningfully for both a child and the adult giving it.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Works genuinely well as both a children's story and a profound adult read
- Original watercolor illustrations are integral, not decorative, and this edition preserves them well
- Short enough to reread in a single sitting, yet rewards repeated rereading over years
- Beautiful, gift-quality premium hardcover production
Cons:
- The deeper thematic layers may be missed entirely by very young readers
- Premium illustrated edition costs more than basic paperback printings
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this book appropriate to read with young children?
Yes, it works well as a whimsical adventure story for children while containing additional depth adults will notice and appreciate separately.
Why does this specific illustrated edition matter over a basic paperback?
The original watercolor illustrations are thematically central to the story, and this edition reproduces them at a higher quality and larger size than most inexpensive mass-market printings.
Final Verdict
I didn't expect a book I remembered as gentle children's fare to genuinely affect me as an adult the way it did. It's short enough to reread in an evening and dense enough with meaning to justify doing exactly that, repeatedly, for years.
Rating: 9.3/10 — A children's book that quietly turned out to be about grief, attention, and love the whole time.