Reviews

Gr 4 Up-Saint-Exupery's little prince, interplanetary traveler and ingenuous seeker of that which is most important in life, returns in an elegant pop-up edition with unabridged text. The original artwork has been repositioned and redesigned to incorporate movable sculptures, turning wheels, and other visual effects. Almost every spread features an illustration, each carefully placed to add to the story's pacing and augment its impact. For example, readers' first glimpse of the little prince's tiny planet is dramatically presented via an illustration that spins upright as the page is turned. The boy's recounting of his relationship with his beloved yet vexing flower is made more immediate through a series of sequenced flaps, each harboring a tiny pop-up image. A towering 3-D depiction of the protagonist posed atop a mountain peak underscores his sense of loneliness. Delineated with a delicate touch, the paper engineering adds a new dimension to this wistful fairy tale without overpowering it, enhancing the story's subtleties and echoing its sense of wonder.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.

Young Osment (The Sixth Sense; Pay It Forward) again proves his mettle as an actor, giving voice to the Little Prince in this crisp, full-cast production of the literary classic. He approaches the role with a gentleness and sensitivity that touches the heart and never sounds maudlin. As the pilot whose plane has crashed in the Sahara, Gere plays it low-key, creating a perfect partner for Osment's interplanetary-traveling, wise-beyond-his-years prince. Gere expresses just the right mix of amusement and bewilderment as the prince interrupts the pilot's efforts to repair his plane with a request that he draw a sheep. The adept performances capture the timeless nature of Saint-Exup‚ry's fable about how a child sees the important things in life much more clearly than many adults do. All ages. (Dec.) FYI: Last year marked the 100th anniversary of Saint-Exup‚ry's birth. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.