As an international literary hero, the Little Prince’s name has now been added to the Dictionary of Heroes of Popular Literature (Dictionnaire des héros de la littérature populaire). There is a Little Prince in each of us; we love the questions he never ceases to ask, his heart devoted to the fox and to his rose.
On the strength of his popularity and his values, the Little Prince has already caught the attention of the world of voluntary groups, and of business. Réunica has made him its ambassador for its communication campaigns. Laurent Morel of Réunica tells us about the company and the reasons behind its partnership with the Little Prince and his message.
We told you in an earlier news item about Bruno d’Agay, who set out from France to retrace the steps of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry along the famous Linea route flown by l’Aéropostale in South America. He took with him a number of copies of The Little Prince to hand out to schoolchildren in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia.
Bruno d’Agay reports that some children already had a copy of the book in their satchels (often the very same copies used by their parents). The story has become a classic, a set text studied by all children aged between 10 and 13. Bruno’s visits to schools were very relaxed and unscripted, and the children asked lots of questions about Saint-Exupéry’s drawings, particularly his drawing of the boa.
These photos were taken in a school in Pigué, 150 km west of Bahia Blanca (Argentina).
Some even call him the Little Prince of French music, but his real name is Raphaël and he is a star firmly fixed in the firmament of today’s French pop music scene. One of the tracks he sings on his album entitled “Je sais que la terre est plate” is “Concordia”, a song that relates directly to the work of Saint-Exupéry:
“Dans un petit avion je me suis posé C’était vers Concordia dans une autre vallée Deux enfants m’ont guidés car j’ai brisé ma roue”
(which translates roughly as: I landed in a light plane, it was near Concordia, in another valley; two children were my guides, because my landing gear was smashed)
For a better understanding of the resonance of these words, read “Wind, Sand and Stars” again, or our December newsstory in which we mentioned a delightful encounter between Saint-Exupéry and two young girls in the neighbourhood of… Concordia, in Argentina. And Raphaël has something else in common with Saint-Exupéry: he, too, is a pilot.
Close your eyes and enjoy a moment of poetry and escape, listening to “Concordia”.
In another style entirely, Gilbert Bécaud used to sing a song entitled Le Petit Prince est revenu (the Little Prince is back). And Gérard Lenorman, a successful singer of the 1970s, paid tribute to him directly in his song, Le Petit Prince (1972).
For her first official choreography for the Ballet d’Europe, Florencia Gonzalez has chosen to stage The Little Prince. The ballet will be performed on stage by nine dancers from the Ballet d’Europe, displaying the highly original, fluid and aesthetic movements characteristic of Florencia Gonzalez’s very personal style.
The classically trained choreographer studied at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the John Cranko School in Stuttgart before developing her own broadly contemporary dance style. For this dance version of The Little Prince, she not only created the choreography but also turned her hand to every artistic aspect of the production, from set design to costumes. The score is by René Aubry, to which Gonzalez has added the voices of the dancers, reading out extracts from the text and the video.
In this adaptation, Florencia Gonzalez is keen to bring out the love story between the Little Prince and his rose. The worlds he visits on his travels are not confined to a single character, but include the impression that these worlds create: a certain absurdity that calls to the Little Prince.
Find out more: La Friche La Belle de Mai – Salle Seita – 41, rue Jobin – 13003 Marseille Tel: 04 96 13 01 12 – http://www.balletdeurope.org
Sporting the colours of the website, the YouTube channel presents all the news about the Little Prince in pictures. Shows from around the world, interviews with fans… subscribe to the channel for exclusive news about the Little Prince, scenes from past shows and interviews. Join us on Little Prince TV, and feel free to share your favourite videos with your friends.
There is a rich vein of news about Saint-Exupéry, too, so subscribe to the Saint-Exupéry TV channel and find out about events and people paying tribute to the creator of the Little Prince.
The first Little Prince competition was a great success. Here are the answers to the questions, and the names of the winners.
The answer to the question “Who wrote The Little Prince” is, of course, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The correct answer to the question “Which animal does the Little Prince tame” is the fox: the snake does not make friends with the Little Prince. As for the subsidiary question – “How many people will enter this competition?” – the mystery number was 6,106 entrants.
And now for the winners: Françoise from Lyon (69) wins The Little Prince giant pop-up book. Our overall winner gave 6,108 as her answer to the mystery question.
Estelle from Valence (26) gave the answer of 6,109 and wins a copy of La Mémoire du Petit Prince by Jean-Pierre Guéno, as does Thierry, whose guess was 6,102.
The following win a 2010 Little Prince calendar: Catherine in Porte Saint-Laurent (30), Laurence in Saint-Avold (57), Claire in Marly-le-Roi (78), Valérie in Ancenis (44), Colette in Bove (80), Sandra in Fenay (21), Christophe in Lyon (69), Audrey in Pomerols (34), Josiane in Montmerle-sur-Saône (01), Florent in Charmoy (89), Caroline in Verviers (04) and Grégory in Verneuil-en-Halatte (60).
A big thank you to all those of you who took part, and we look forward to seeing you again soon for the next competition of april 5th 2010!
Why not make Rouen your destination this weekend? The city, less than two hours from Paris, will be hosting the Salon du Livre Ancien antiquarian book fair from 26th to 28th March. This year’s fair will feature a fine collection of foreign-language editions of The Little Prince. Here is your chance to compare the different covers on the many Asian editions, or simply the many ways of writing “Little Prince” – and, of course, to meet other friends of the Little Prince.
For lovers of antiquarian books, the 13th book fair will feature over 10,000 volumes, some dating back to the 16th century, others luxury imprints of more recent works. All the professions engaged in the making of a book will be represented, with bookbinders, calligraphers and restorers giving demonstrations of their skills.
13e Salon du Livre Ancien – March 26th (5 to 8 p.m.), 27th (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and 28th (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) at the Abbatiale Saint-Ouen church. Admission free.
All good things must come to an end, and here we are with Jean-Pierre Guéno for the third and final part of this exclusive interview. The writer tells us about the response he has had since his book came out, and gives us his opinion on the connection we may make between the philosophy of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and sustainable development. Finally, he talks to us about his first encounter with the Little Prince and his interest in the magic that is created when word and image are combined.
La Mémoire du Petit Prince offers a key to knowing and understanding what kind of man Saint-Exupéry was. A book not to be missed, and to be shared with everyone you know.
This news update is for all collectors and lovers of languages. A new edition of the Little Prince in Thai is to be published by RP Book. Marking the 60th anniversary of the Little Prince, this edition has a preface by Christian Depierre, Cooperation Attaché for French at the French Embassy in Thailand. In this preface, the diplomat speaks of how the tale may be perceived in a country that practices Buddhism: “The Little Prince’s quest is akin to a quest for karma”. In his view, the book is an invitation to meditation, something that might well appeal to those who already practice the discipline.
Ul principe pinin is the Ticinese translation of the Little Prince. Ticino is a largely Italian-speaking canton of Switzerland, but also home to an Italian dialect: Ticinese. This edition is translated by Marisa and Gianni Ballabio and published by the Istituo Editoriale Ticinese.
D’r klein Prinz is Antoine Zipfel’s translation into Alsatian, a language wrongly considered foreign but in fact officially recognised as one of the languages of France! First published in 1995, this new edition is published by La Nuée Bleue. If you were wondering how to say “the fox” in Alsatian, the answer is d’r Fuchs!
Few scholars have embarked on an in-depth study of the work of Saint-Exupéry, and of The Little Prince in particular. One who has done so, however, is Laurent de Galembert; as part of his university studies, he wrote a dissertation on the tale.
We will shortly be featuring an interview with Laurent de Galembert, in which he will talk to us about the books that he believes are key to a better understanding of The Little Prince and of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s work in general. Meanwhile, here is an article we published earlier about Laurent’s dissertation on La grandeur du Petit Prince – the grandeur of the Little Prince.
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