Of all the books written in French over the past century, Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Le Petit Prince is surely the best loved in the most tongues. New Yorker

All grown-ups were children once (but most of them have forgotten). A pilot who has crash landed in the desert awakes to see an extraordinary little boy. ‘ Please, asks the stranger, will you draw me a little lamb? ’ Baffled by the little prince’s incessant questioning, the pilot pulls out his pencil, and starts to draw. As the little prince’s curiosity takes them further on their journey together, the pilot is able to piece together an understanding of the tiny planet from which the prince has come and of his incredible travels across the universe.