> In 1943, which author and pilot wrote The Little Prince?And the answer: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Photo courtesy: Amazon.comBorn into a French aristocratic family in 1900,Antoine de Saint-Exupéry developed a love of flying as a child. In adulthood, heflew planes for a mail carrier between France and North Africa. He also wrotestories about pilots, including the best-selling book The Little Prince.Some 75 years after its inception, The Little Prince remains a well-lovedphilosophical probe into love, friendship, isolation, and fear. Today, it's oneof the most translated books in history, with translations in over 345languages. More than anything else, The Little Prince is a reminder, and arecognition, of the wonders of a childlike brain. The story begins with a crash in the Sahara Desert. This crash was a personalexperience for Saint-Exupéry, as he experienced the very event during his timeas a pilot. In fact, much of the story is drawn from Saint-Exupéry's personalexperience and consequential ruminations on life. However, he didn't write thestory to tell readers about his life. Rather, Saint-Exupéry created The LittlePrince to remind readers what they'd lost. His own brush with death reminded himwhat was truly important – the forgotten lessons of his childhood. So, beside acrashed plane in the Sahara Desert, the narrator comes face to face with agolden haired little boy, about to share his incredible story: the LittlePrince. Before landing on Earth, the Little Prince lived on his own planet, AsteroidB-612. It was a tiny place to live, even for someone as small as the Prince.Each day, he tended to his rose – once a little sprout, the flower bloomed underhis care and the two fell in love. However, the Prince was driven away by thevanity of the flower – unknowingly, he was driven away by her own attempt tolove. One day, the Prince catches a ride on a flock of geese, and runs away. The ensuing story follows the Little Prince as he flies from planet to planet,asteroid to asteroid, seeking company and understanding. In the end, The LittlePrince is the perfect children's story for adults. Not only does it exist as aparody of so much of the reality we are told to accept as we grow up, it asks usto use a tool so many of us forget we have: our imagination. Listen to anarration of the timeless story below.