It could be any fairy tale, but it’s not. In his arms Antoine de Saint-Exupery the above materials have become a means of universal storytelling. One of those that no matter what age you read them, they have something to give you. If you are a child, you will stay for heroes, adventures, joys of discovery. If you’re a little or a little older, the story becomes a powerful reminder of why life is worth living after all. And if you’re old enough to be considered wise in a fairy tale, you might even think about how you ended up.

OUR “A little prince” he accomplishes what many have tried but few have successfully accomplished: to transcend in words every individual characteristic and penetrate into the essence of every human being, which remains and will remain the same and unchanged. The author achieved this with rare frankness – the pilot in the book is himself, he participated in the Second World War and crashed in the Sahara desert. In the book, of course, he sits on the sidelines to also learn from the Little Prince, the child who was, was and is all of us. This is what the hero tells us with a romance that, deep down, stands firmly on Earth – or planet B612.

The Little Prince was first published in April 1943 in the USA, in English and in French – after all, Saint-Exupery wrote there as another little hero in a yellow scarf, who turned out to be far from home. Eighty years later, the book has sold over 140 million copies, is spoken in dozens of languages, and its story has not waned to provide the same charm and power. Has he become something like the Mona Lisa of children’s books of all ages, following every one of the millions of eyes that fall on him – or are they all just following his watchful, beckoning gaze?

Eight decades after the Little Prince’s first trip to earth, four people are deeply moved by Saint-Exupéry’s work. they take the little blond boy’s hand again and let him lead the way.

Eugene Trivizas once found a fox in his yard

I owe The Little Prince two things: First, my childhood sympathy for foxes. Foxes from other tales were treacherous, cunning, ruthless, not at all attractive. However, in The Little Prince, the hero meets a fox, who not only finds her beautiful, but also invites her to play, and a touching bond develops between them. So I was delighted when, on a snowy winter morning before the trip to Normandy, I saw her for the first time from a window in a back garden in England. My guess is that he took refuge there, because the other gardens in the area are well maintained, and mine is in a very dilapidated condition. Only baobabs, fortunately, did not grow in its jungle. Besides, if I were a fox, I wouldn’t want them to cut the trees and mow the grass near my den. Little by little, the “urban fox” has been tamed to the point where it poses when I photograph it. Her only fault is that she steals the plates on which I put her food, but only those decorated with colorful borders. Clay leaves her indifferent. I conclude that this is a fox with a developed artistic flair. Maybe he collects colorful dishes somewhere.

Secondly, The Little Prince, like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland or Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, falls into the category of multi-dimensional, multi-layered, cross-cultural and bi-age works that are both simple and complex. understandable and deep works that can appeal to both a small child and a mature adult. Zohar Savit, trying to explain the success of works equally popular with adults and children, such as Gulliver’s Travels, comes to the conclusion that these are widely read creations with a double identity, “magic images” that change their appearance according to the approaching angle. Each age group likes different shades, interpretations and semantic overflows. These works were my role models.

Eugenios Trivizas is an author of children’s books.

For Marina Ioti, every reading is a new journey.

The value of books is measured by their endurance over time, and that bet was won by The Little Prince. For eighty years it has influenced generations of readers from all over the world, while remaining one of the most influential books of all time. Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote about love, romance, death, loss, self-awareness, growing up, gratitude, empathy decades before these topics were covered in children’s books or even books on psychology. Written in poetic language in 1943, it remains a topical, deeply anti-war book today and points to the constant danger of baobabs that can destroy an entire planet.

I have loved it since childhood and continue to reread it at regular intervals, because as I grow older I am constantly discovering new interpretations that I did not perceive before or that I now perceive better. It reminds me what it’s like to see the world through the eyes of the heart. “All adults were children at first… But few remember.” Though usually aimed at children, it offers readers of all ages a dose of much-needed innocence to offset the often cynical reality of adulthood. It “clears” our thinking of the unnecessary and helps to focus on the essence, finding every time we read it, new ways and thoughts that excite us. The Little Prince does what the best books strive to do, and few do it well: it helps us in an abstract and direct way that doesn’t serve as ready-made information, but rather activates thought, understands human nature, and becomes a little better.

Marina Ioti is a writer and illustrator of children’s books.

Susana Papafagou learned from The Little Prince that you need to tame and tame

The most important human themes, such as bonds, friendship, dreams, growing up, the grief of parting, and even death are themes that Antoine de Se-Exupéry touches tenderly and tenderly in The Little Prince. the story of a little boy who undoubtedly existed himself. With those with whom I have had the opportunity to talk about the Little Prince, what appears every time is unique, as each of us is unique.

“You are as little a boy to me as a hundred thousand other little boys. And I don’t need you. I don’t need you either. To you, I’m just a fox, like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, they will need each other. You will be the only boy in the world for me, and I will be the only fox in the world for you.

Eighty years later, like a three-dimensional puzzle, every word and piece: The Little Prince, his planet, rose, fox, snake, other planets, as well as those that he met on his way, come to life and give the reader an answer (and the more he read, the more answers it reveals).

The answer that The Little Prince once gave me follows from the previous paragraph. He gave me an answer regarding the process of the therapeutic relationship. The most important ingredients for creating meaningful relationships that last a long time and can be stored within us (like a talisman) are patience, endurance, stability and honesty. What is the path to healing? What else but the path of relationships, the path from I to you, from you to we and from us to I am, a relationship that is imprinted in us, having previously tamed us.

After we endure the darkness and tame the beings we carry within us, then we actually meet another. Only then can we understand the other and everything that surrounds us, without reinterpreting, remaining only in our own feelings and dry opinions. In order to domesticate and be domesticated, we must endure movement.

Only then will parents understand their children, partners their partners, teachers their students, therapists their patients. After all, the Fox also says: “People understand what they tame.”

So Happy Birthday Little Prince and thank you for keeping open the gates to our inner world and helping us to be in touch with the child that lives inside of us.

Susana Papafagou is a clinical developmental psychologist, group and family psychotherapist.

Argyro Pipini looks for sunsets in a yellow scarf

My meeting with the “Little Prince” was long overdue. Oliver, David and several “Little Ladies” were my constant companions. I had to go to university and meet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry with a life romance – I accompanied him on a night flight – to meet the little wandering prince. And the native planet, and the fox, and the sheep, and the flower, and the stars, oh, the stars. Since then, I’ve been running a book marathon, collecting regular and pop-up editions, wrapping myself in yellow scarves, wearing B612 Planet bracelets and earrings.

I often wonder what happens to some books, they are read and re-read by both young and old, they are translated all over the world, they are discussed, they are loved, their phrases become buzzwords.

Perhaps because we all experienced, like their heroes, unforgivable situations – loneliness, thirst, fear, desert. Maybe because in the words of these books we all find poetry, wisdom, hope, something from our own dreams.

Maybe because we, like the little prince, “if we are very sad” – and we often have many reasons for this – we are looking for sunsets. And we will continue, like him, to appeal to people.

Argyro Pipini is an author of books for children.