Favorite Thing #2: Le Petit Prince

I first read Le Petit Prince, a children's novella by French aviator turned author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in high school French class. It was love at first read. Though technically billed as a children's book, the theme behind the book is distinctly adult. Le Petit Prince tells the story of a downed air pilot in the Sahara who comes across a strange little boy from a far away planet, B612 where he spent his days taking care of a rose that he comes to love very much. He leaves his planet and travels to different planets to see what the rest of the universe is like. Through the stories that the little prince tells about his travels and the people he has come across, Saint-Exupéry reveals the mistakes that adults often make and the things that they forget after they cease being a child. My favorite line of the story (so much so that I now have it permenantly etched on my back for all time) is "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." Roughly translated it says : One can not see well except with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes. What makes the book even better to read are the little illustrations and drawings by Saint-Exupéry himself throughout the book. Don't worry if you don't speak French, the book has been translated into more than 180 languages, and to date is the 3rd on the worlwide most published book list, behind the Bible and Gone with the Wind. Give it a read. It won't take to long, and you just might love it as much as me!