The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Top 25
A pilot stranded in the desert meets a small prince who has traveled between planets, and learns what really matters. A gentle fable for all ages. Read the full description
Best for: Readers of every age who want something gentle
The Little Prince is #16 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 79 out of 100.
The Little Prince: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, The Little Prince’s reading interest has run from #10 to #38 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
The Little Prince was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 1,059 times in the past 12 months, peaking in September 2025 with 127 (44% above its monthly average of 88). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 6% on the three months before. 81% of the adds were “want to read”, 9% “currently reading” and 10% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 666,966 times in the past 12 months, peaking in May 2026 with 66,876 views. The latest three months were down 7% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article The Little Prince.
Awards and honours listed on Wikidata: Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, Retro Hugo Award for Best Novella.
What the data says about The Little Prince
- Steady demand. Monthly shelf adds for The Little Prince stayed within a narrow band around 88, which is what a book with a constant stream of new readers looks like.
- Busiest and quietest months. September 2025 was its busiest month (127 adds), about 2.1 times its quietest, December 2025 (61).
- Attention and shelf adds move independently. Its Wikipedia views and its shelf adds did not rise and fall together over these 12 months (correlation -0.03).
- Ratings above the list’s middle. Its Open Library average of 4.37 from 248 ratings is 0.25 higher than the middle book on the list (4.12).
- Against its genre. It had 63% more shelf adds than the average Children book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 1.0% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #27 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 1943 (83 years ago), it is older than 87% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
The Little Prince on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #16 | 79 |
Is The Little Prince rising or falling?
Holding steady Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking.
On Open Library, The Little Prince ranks #29 this week, #35 this month, and #34 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why The Little Prince made the Top 100
The Little Prince made the list mainly on momentum (+30.4 points) and reader love (+19.1 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for The Little Prince
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have The Little Prince open right now than 57% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Children books
It is #1 of the 5 Children books on this month’s list.
About The Little Prince
A pilot stranded in the desert meets a small prince who has traveled between planets, and learns what really matters. A gentle fable for all ages.
Why it’s here: It is one of the most translated books in the world, and it rewards rereading.
Best for: Readers of every age who want something gentle
At a glance
- First published
- 1943-04-06
- Genre
- Children
- Also described as
- lyrical novel, philosophical fiction, tale
- Length
- about 96 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- French
- Languages
- editions in 40 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 699 on Open Library
- Setting
- Sahara Desert
- Awards and honours
- Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, Retro Hugo Award for Best Novella
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Childlike wonder
- Love and loss
- What really matters
What reading it is like
Short, gentle and poetic, with watercolor illustrations by the author.
At about 96 pages it is a short read: roughly 2 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
Often read aloud to children, though its themes speak to adults. Originally published in French as Le Petit Prince.
The premise
A pilot stranded in the desert meets a small prince who has traveled from planet to planet. Through their conversations, the story reflects on friendship, love, and seeing what really matters.
What you’ll get
- A gentle fable for all ages
- Poetic, quotable lines
- Charming illustrations
You might skip it if you want a plot-driven story.
Pairs well with: The Alchemist · Wonder
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #15 and #17
Questions about The Little Prince
What rank is The Little Prince on the Top 100 books?
The Little Prince is #16 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 79 out of 100.
Is The Little Prince rising or falling?
Holding steady. Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking. On Open Library, The Little Prince ranks #29 this week, #35 this month, and #34 over the past year.
Why is The Little Prince on the Top 100?
The Little Prince made the list mainly on momentum (+30.4 points) and reader love (+19.1 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0).
How many people are reading The Little Prince right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 329 readers currently reading The Little Prince, 3,858 who want to read it and 470 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has The Little Prince had over the past year?
1,059 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak September 2025, 127); latest three months down 6% on the prior three; 666,966 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 7% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is The Little Prince best for?
Readers of every age who want something gentle.
Ask a question about The Little Prince
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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