The True Value of the Little Prince Discovery

“Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” –“The Little Prince”

Today (May 16), the Paris auction house Artcurial will auction off two recently discovered pages of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved classic “Le Petit Prince.”

The auction house estimated the worth of this literary find between 40,000€ to 50,000€ (app. $52,000 to $65,000). This may seem like a high price tag for two thin pages of nearly illegible writing, but it would not be surprising to see it fetch an even greater sum.

After all, “The Little Prince” has sold 140 million copies worldwide and is the world’s second most translated book behind the Bible.

 But more interesting than the monetary value is this question: Why was this passage left out of the final manuscript? While we’ll probably never know the answer for sure, the omission of this particular passage sheds some light on the book’s breathtaking success. Read more at Page Views

Beyond the cliché: Ten picture book gifts for graduates

Graduation season is fast upon us. It's likely that your local bookstore (if you’re lucky enough to still have a local bookstore), has already dusted off its “Gifts for the Graduate” display.

These will always feature picture books because, with their uplifting messages and a small word count, they make great gifts for the pomp and circumstance crowd.

However, it is important to choose carefully. Give the right picture book and you arm your graduate with precious wisdom for the road ahead. Choose poorly and you just dropped good money on a long-form greeting card.

Bookstores will inevitably suggest the classic (Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”) and the cloying (Sandra Boynton’s “Yay You! Moving Out, Moving Up, Moving On”), but if you want to reach beyond the cliché, here are 10 alternative gift ideas: Read more at Page Views

Some thoughts on Sendak

Some thoughts on Maurice Sendak in the NYDailyNews:

Sendak, who died on Tuesday at 83, knew that he was a writer unlike any other. “I think what I offered was different,” he once said in an interview, “but not because I drew better than anybody or wrote better than anybody, but because I was more honest than anybody.” Read more at the NYDailyNews