The Little Prince

A pilot stranded in the Sahara after an engine failure meets a small, golden-haired boy who has come from a tiny distant planet. Over several days the child tells of his home, his vain and beloved rose, and the odd grown-ups he met on his travels, each absorbed in some empty pursuit. Presented as a children's fable, with the author's own watercolours, it is really a gentle meditation on friendship, love, loss and the habit of overlooking what matters. Its simple language and memorable images have made it one of the most widely read books of the twentieth century.