The Little Prince was first published in French in 1943 and translated into English that same year. The novel embraces many literary forms: parable, allegory, fantasy, satire. At first glance, The Little Prince appears to be a children’s story with its imaginative plot and drawings. A young boy, the Little Prince, from a far away asteroid arrives on the planet Earth after an interplanetary journey that has the markings of a pilgrimage. He is trying to find the meaning of life and love. His spiritual enlightenment unfolds.

On a different level, The Little Prince is a tale told to the adult world. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote this book while he was in exile in America. His beloved France had fallen to Nazi Germany. Many see the story as a warning to adults who govern and live in this world. Saint-Exupéy condemned the appeasement policy that allowed Hitler to become powerful in the decade before the war. The tale told is one of responsibility and vigilance. Things of “consequence” cannot be ignored.

In this unit, the literary techniques addressed include narration, flashback, personification, point of view, allegory, analogy, theme, symbols, and more. Students conduct interviews, participate in group discussions, write creatively, write a mission statement, sketch, research, and create Internet projects. This unit emphasizes the need for students to find textual support for their ideas and allows students to reflect on their own values.

Supplementary materials include an objective test with answer key and essay topics.