Revisiting The Little Prince on International Children’s Book Day

The 2nd of April 2025 is International Children’s Book Day, a yearly event celebrated across the world to promote reading and literacy in young people. But what does it mean for adults? Why should we pay attention to International Children’s Book Day?

What Is International Children’s Book Day?

International Children’s Book Day is designed to fall as close to Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday as possible, if not on the day. It was started in 1967 and is typically celebrated by schools and local organizations setting up events like writing competitions, book awards, giveaways, author signings, readings, and the like.

Every year, a different nation has the opportunity to be the international sponsor of the International Children’s Book Day. The country can pick a theme and invite a prominent author from that country to write a message for kids across the world. Along with work from a well-known illustrator, this work will be formatted into a poster and used across the world to promote reading and literacy.

What Are the Most Famous Children’s Books?

For those of us who have read since we were young, it might be easy to remember our favorite book from when we were a child, but what other books were there? What are some of the biggest children’s books of all time? Which books would we have read as children that parents are still sharing with their little ones all these years later?

According to the BBC, the top ten children’s books of all time include Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Pretty much all of these books are still being read to children across the world. One of them, in particular, though, is still being reprinted and has recently gained traction in the world of adult fiction, too.

The Little Prince, the French children’s story, has recently received a wave of praise for its depth, making it a popular choice for parents and their children. Even though it was written over 60 years ago — in fact, 82 years ago on April 6th!

Why Should Adults Care About Children’s Books?

Children’s books are designed to provide their readers with two things: the opportunity to explore the unknown and the impossible, and the chance to understand the equally impossible world around us. To children, this is invaluable. But to adults, it can be just as helpful.

Whether it’s a picture book, an early reader, or young adult fiction, children’s books have more merit than adults often give them. They can provide a break away from the stressful lives we lead and provide us with a new, almost innocent outlook on life that we have, perhaps, long lost.

But beyond just that, reading (and specifically re-reading) children’s books allows us to reconnect with our past selves and our past feelings, remind ourselves of the lessons and the thoughts we had as children, and maybe, just maybe, regain some of that childlike wonder.

Which Children’s Book Should You Reread This International Children’s Book Day?

So, if you’re going to reread a children’s book this International Children’s Book Day, which one should it be?

We’d argue that it should be The Little Prince.

Not only has the story recently picked up traction in a way it hasn’t had before, but it’s also a beautiful story, and lots of people, it seems, are realizing that they never really understood the story when they read it as children.

What Messages Can the Little Prince Give Us?

It might seem ridiculous to say that an 82-year-old novel written in a different language, designed to entertain children, can impact us as adults in the modern world, but nevertheless, it’s true. There are a number of lessons within The Little Prince that plenty of people need to be reminded of on a regular basis, and that if you’re feeling a little lost, could help you feel a little more found. Lessons like:

1. Relationships are what make life worth living. In the story, the Little Prince meets a fox, and the two of them talk about what it would mean for the prince to ‘tame’ the fox. The fox goes on to say: “If you tame me, you and I, we will have created a relationship, and so we will need one another. You will be unique in the world for me… If you were to tame me, my whole life would be so much more fun.”

2. Numbers aren’t all that important. The Little Prince seems befuddled in the story as to why parents are so obsessed with numbers above all else. This is something that changes in us as we get older, it feels. As The Prince says in the story, we go from caring about what someone’s favorite games or hobbies are to caring more about what they earn, how old they are, and what their parents earn. This takes the joy out of the world, stopping us from seeing people for who they are and instead just what they can do for us.

3. That we’re responsible for our own love and who we give it to. Once again, a conversation between The Little Prince and his friendly fox sees the two of them talking about relationships, and the fox says, “You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose”. We’re responsible for putting the effort into our relationships. Taming the fox is one thing, but maintaining it is another thing altogether, and without our effort and our conscious decision to love someone, we can lose those connections.

To find out what other sweet life lessons are woven into the delightful story, pick up a copy of The Little Prince today and give it a re-read (or a read!).