This summer we had the opportunity to read Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic The Little Prince thanks to a gift from Tío. The Little Prince has been a multi-generational inspirational favorite in our family so our immediate idea as we were reading it–some of us again and others for the first time– was to create written and visual responses inspired by every chapter of the book. You can follow along with your own copy of Saint-Exupéry’s book. This Journal was executed by Alex, he read every chapter and then summarized the “big idea” in his own words and drawings. What follows are the initial results of Alex’s “Little Prince” explorations.

I: “Grown-ups Have No Imagination”

Grown-ups have no imagination and only understand adult things, while kids imagine and help adults see the world through their eyes. When a kid dreams there are no limits.

Description: A child's Imagination

II: “Imagine Again”

The main idea is that sometimes grown-ups, you forget how to imagine, and sometimes you need a kid to help you imagine again. I feel like kids have more imagination than adults and adults live in a world where they are forced to think literal, where kids have the freedom to think imaginatively.

Description: Sheep drawings for the prince

III: “Different Worlds, Different Views”

If you’re from somewhere else, your point of view is different than someone else from another place. For example, in the book, the little prince thinks –I mean– “expects” this man to be just like him, but he isn’t. The man offers the little prince a stake and rope so his sheep doesn’t run away, but the little prince thought that was funny because his planet is so small that there’s nowhere for the sheep to go. For example in real life, let’s say someone from… I don’t know… Russia… does the Moscow dance, then he comes to the USA and expects everyone to be doing the Moscow dance, but they’re not and someone from the US thinks that the man from Russia should love the Macarena, but he doesn’t.

Description: Different planets

IV: “More Than A Number”

Don’t judge a person by how they look or appear, judge them by how they act and their personality. Things like how much something costs matter less than what they mean to you. For example, you might get a hug for your birthday instead of a present but it might mean a whole lot to you even though it didn’t cost money and it wasn’t about numbers.

Description: Why must our parents... follow numbers?

V: “Small Seeds Grow Big”

There are good seeds and bad seeds. The bad seeds grow into big plants and that can be a problem. To avoid that problem you have to yank it out while it’s young. For example in the book the little prince has to pull up the young boababs before they destroy his planet. In real life you have to pull up the weeds before they kill your plants. Metaphorically it could be a problem which you have to kill before it gets bigger.

Description: Good vs. Bad Seeds

VI & VII: “Special To Me”

Something special to someone can be special for several reasons but someone else might think it’s not important because they might not know why it’s special, and that could potentially make the person who likes it upset.

Description: Animals are very special to me

VIII & XI: “They Don’t Know Love”

What you hate can be what you love. In these chapters the flower was sassy rude, so much that because of that the little prince left. But right before he left he told the flower that he loved her, and then the flower admitted that she was being rude and that she loved him. But he had to leave and now even though she was rude he wanted to be reunited with her.

Description: You can love someone for the same things you don't like about them.

X – XIII: “Lonely Distraction”

All these people are distracting themselves because of loneliness. For example, the king is distracting himself by saying he is the “ruler”, even though he has no one to rule over. The drunkard is distracting himself by drinking to forget the back that he’s drinking. The vain man is distracting himself by getting other people to adore him so he can feel better about himself. The business man is distracting himself by counting stars instead of enjoying them. The little prince doesn’t care for any of that because he thinks you should look at and admire the stars instead of counting them.

 

Description: The drunkard drinks to forget he's drinking

XIV & XV: “All Work Is No Fun If You Don’t Enjoy it “

Sometimes grownups help other people but never take the time to do something for themselves. For example, the lamplighter has to turn the lamp on every minute and the geographer doesn’t go out to see things for himself because the thinks he’s too important. If they both started thinking about themselves the lamplighter could sleep and the geographer could see the world.

Description: The lamplighter that never sleeps

Description: The geographer that knows the world but can never leave to see it.

XVI – XXI: “The Time You Spend Makes A Difference”

The little prince was talking to the wildlife. First, he talked to the snake. The snake wanted to bite him to help his pain go away and that makes the snake powerful. Next, he talked to the flower who thought the world was what she could see from her spot. This meant she thought that the earth only had six people. After that he talked to the roses that looked just like his flower back at home, but were not like his flower because they weren’t “tamed”. They didn’t have someone taking care of them. Then he talked to the fox who wanted to be tamed by the little prince, and he did tame him. After a while the fox said goodbye and told him that there was no flower like his flower because his was “tamed”. In this case being “tamed” means “being taken care of” and what makes something or someone special is the time you spend with them.

Description: "Tamed" means "taken care of".

XXII – XXVII: “What’s Important Can’t Be Seen”

At one point the little prince says “it’s good to have a friend even if he’s going to die”, to me that means that it was better to have had that time with them than never to have had that time at all. Those experiences become a way that you remember the friends you love. The little prince said that “the important thing is what can’t be seen” which in this case are the memories which you will have forever. Another interesting idea is when the little prince said “eyes are blind, see with the heart” which to me mens don’t see things just for what they are. For example, a star is more than a light in the sky, it can be a friend laughing. He says to think about each star as a bell and each bell knows how to laugh. To me the bells are birds.

Description: You can look at stars and birds to remember those you love.

The End