Books: Le Petit Prince

One of the rites of passage for someone learning the French language is "Le Petit Prince" (The Little Prince), one of the best-known works of children's fantasy in the Western hemisphere. The book was written and illustrated by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, and it includes flights of fancy comparable to the best of Lewis Caroll (though without much of Caroll's more biting allusions).

It tells the story of the Little Prince, a little boy from another planet. He and his companion, a wayward pilot lost in the Sahara, travel to distant worlds with a large cast of characters. My favorite of these vignettes is the one that features the Businessman, since it includes a not-so-subtle slight on materialism and workaholics.

The story has inspired a lot of interesting tributes, but the coolest one is the Mylene Farmer song, "Dessine-moi un Mouton" (Draw me a sheep):



The sky is empty without imagination...