The 120th picture book in the Little People Big Dreams series introduces us to author, pilot, mailman, and illustrator Antoine Saint-Exupéry - better known as the writer of The Little Prince.

The book opens in Lyon, France in the early 1900s. Antoine zooms around the garden, eyes closed, pretending to fly, while his sisters climb trees and attend teddy bear picnics. He writes poety and draws elaborate plans for a flying bicycle - something not far from a sketch of his future life.

In bold, joyful artwrok, we see him join the military, learn to fly, and become a postal pilot - delivering letters in Europe and Africa; gaining material for later books.

In 1935, Saint-Exupéry and his mechanic famously crash in the Sahara, where they are rescued after four days by a Bedouin. The experience inspires Saint-Ex’s memoir Wind, Sand and Stars and his later book The Little Prince.

And at the end, he takes his plane on one last flight and never returns: as enigmatic an end as any poem. The final illustration of Saint-Exupéry and the Little Prince admiring the rose and the moon together makes a bittersweet closing image.

Antoine Saint-Exupêry is a short, satisfying bedtime read and introduction to the author and his most famous work. His troubles are only very lightly hinted at, and the bright artwork brings energy to his adventures. Lovely cover art and illustrations throughout by Martin Le Lapin.

Other authors introduced in the series include Maya Angelou, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Hans Christian Andersen, Mary Shelley, Anne Frank, JRR Tolkien, Agatha Christie, and Astrid Lingren. A book on Roald Dahl is due next year.

Many thanks to series author Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, and NetGalley for my advanced reading copy. I’m keen to read Wind, Sea and Stars now.

WHAT TO READ NEXT

The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry

Katherine Johnson by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara