Confession: I’d never before read The Little Prince.

Growing up with a mother who preferred to sing (as opposed to read) my sister and I to sleep, I guess I missed out on a lot of the significant books that people fall in love with as children. However, I’m not sure I could have fully appreciated the beauty of this book as a kid myself.

I loved the narrator — a man who refused to let go of his childhood, but was able to recognize when he could and when he could not let it show, through testing his company with his drawing one.

I especially loved the wisdom of the little prince who saw more than most adults are able to see in everyday life. He reminded me that there is a certain magic in childhood that gives a different sight to their eyes, but as you grow you sometimes lose that.

Maybe that’s why there are those like us who have never stopped loving children’s books. Maybe that’s why certain people can no longer see the appeal. But I know that this is a book that shows the epitome of what a children’s book can be, and I have officially joined the group of Little Prince obsessors.

This version in particular is The Little Prince 70^th anniversary deluxe gift set from HMH (March 2013), which comes in a beautiful box with a full audio recording narrated by actor Viggo Mortensen, plus a code for a free audio download. While I was a little sad to see two places where closing quotations were missing (I guess as a publishing student you notice these kind of things), keeping it from being a true collector's item, the high-quality glossy paper makes the illustrations look great. Now I only wish I had retained more of my high school French so I could read the original version as well.