Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – French author, 1900-1944
French author, 1900-1944. Published in 1943, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s sole children’s book, Le Petit Prince, has been translated in more than 300 languages, including an English translation, The Little Prince.
Born in Lyons, France, the author attended the College de Fribourg in Switzerland and was employed as a mechanic and factory worker before his childhood interests in aeronautics and poetry were utilized in a career that combined flying with writing. As a commercial pilot, he carried mail between France and Africa, and he wrote a novel loosely based on his experiences, Courrier Sud (1929).
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry spent the early years of World War II in New York City, where he wrote and illustrated an allegorical children’s story about a downed pilot who meets an unusual boy in the Sahara Desert. The Little Prince has journeyed from his tiny home planet, met a number of unpleasant adults on neighboring asteroids, and arrived on Earth, where he learns lessons about love, responsibility, friendship, and beauty.
This whimsical, sad fairy tale satirizes adult behavior and celebrates the purity and innocence of children. The fanciful writing and charming watercolor illustrations of the hardcover edition appeal to young readers, although the philosophical component of the story may elude them; the volume is most popular with adults who appreciate the Little Prince’s aphorisms and the spiritual awakening of the narrator.
After the book’s publication, Saint-Exupéry joined the war effort as a pilot and was soon listed “missing in action.” Produced for the stage and as a poorly received 1974 movie musical, The Little Prince continues to be enjoyed by readers of all ages, although adults and children often derive very different pleasures from this classic.
P.D.S.
Source: Children’s Books and their Creators, Anita Silvey.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Works
- L’Aviateur (1926) (The Aviator, in the anthology A Sense of Life)
- Courrier sud (1929) (Southern Mail) – made as a movie in French
- Vol de nuit (1931) (Night Flight) – winner of the full prix Femina and made twice as a movie and a TV film, both in English
- The Wild Garden (1938) – Limited to one thousand copies privately printed for the friends of the author and his publishers as a New Year’s Greeting. The story is taken from the forthcoming book, Wind, Sand and the Stars, to be published in the spring of 1939.
- Terre des hommes (1939) – winner of the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française
- Wind, Sand and Stars (simultaneous distinct English version) winner of the U.S. National Book Award
- Pilote de guerre (1942) (titled in English as: Flight to Arras) – winner of the Grand Prix Littéraire de l’Aéro-Club de France
- Le petit prince (1943) (The Little Prince), posthumous in France – translated into more than 250 languages and dialects and among the top four selling books in the world; made as both movies and TV films in a number of languages, and adapted to numerous other media in many languages
- Lettre à un otage (1944) (Letter to a Hostage, posthumous in English)
