The Return of the Young Prince

When I was young I read a book that left an impression of me, The Little Prince, by Antione de Saint-Exupery.  Written in 1943, the timeless book has been the most translated in the French Language. It tells the story of a little boy from a tiny planet who is on a journey far from his home. He meets an aviator who’s aeroplane is broken and tells him of the strange adults he has met.
I read the book again more recently to my children and the feel of the story was so different from an adult point of view. The Little Prince was bemused at the things that adults did, now I can see that I have done the strange things myself while growing up.

I was excited to find that there was a new book about The Little Prince called The Return of the Young Prince
by A.G Roemmers. The illustrations are by Piatari Posti and are quite delightful and similar in style to the original illustrations in The Little Prince.

Although, the book is about the same Prince from his little planet with the flower and the volcanos and of course his sheep in a box, it does take on a different feel. The change of author is apparent although the style is similar. Just like the first book this second one is written for both children and adults. There are many things that can be taken away from it.

The Young Prince is found by the road side by a man on a long journey through the roads of Pategonia. The Young Prince asks questions and the driver gives him detailed, sometimes philosophical, answers. The driver is seeking a way to make his long journey more interesting while the young boy is lost and confused.

In trying to help the young Prince the man takes on a very different journey through human values that often get forgotten in adulthood. Things like friendship, family, community and compassion. The Little Prince took the boy on a journey through the values that adults abide to and mocks them. In this book we find out what values are important to the Prince and are reminded which ones we should aspire too.

The book is easy to read although some might find the long dialogue of the driver a little too much. It’s not very long at only 156 pages and the chapters are short. It’s style is typical of children’s book. It’s also appealing to adults because it reminds you of the human values that we push aside as we grow up. There are things we can all learn from young people.

The Return of the Young Prince can be purchased on Amazon for £6.99 in hardback. It would make a great Christmas present for a child or maybe even an adult that love The Little Prince when they were a child.

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of the The Return of the young Prince in return for my review of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. There are also affiliate links in this post. 

http://convertalinktest.affiliatewindow.com