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Teaching The Little Prince

Le petit guide.

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 84

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It's cloying yet endearing. It's full of anthropomorphic objects. It...spawned a creepy Fosse movie.

Obviously, we could only be referring to the French children's (and teen...and adult) classic The Little Prince. This eternally beloved novella is chock full of themes, symbols, and other super-teachable goodness.

In this teacher guide, you'll find

  • thematic connections to Saint-Exupéry's poetry and other works.
  • a creative writing project where students design their own idealized (or flawed) planet, just like the book.
  • additional research about WWII and scaffolded connections to the text.

The Little Prince may never have found happiness, but we bet you'll dig this teaching guide nonetheless. At the very least...there's no talking snake or temperamental rose to scare you.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching The Little Prince?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Here's an opportunity for your students to dive below the surface of The Little Prince and explore deeper, hidden meanings. It's easy to see the story as allegorical, and there's a lot of information (and speculation) out there about what the characters and situations in the story actually mean. This activity will focus on the baobabs and their WWII  symbolism.

Of course, Saint-Exupéry might have had no ulterior motives at all when he described the baobabs, but today we're gathered together to join this baobab and the idea of Nazism together in symbolic unity. Considering the fact that the world was waging war at the same time he wrote the story, that Saint-Exupéry was a pilot fighting against Nazi Germany, and that Germany invaded his country and sent him fleeing to America to ask for help, linking the baobabs to Nazism isn't that far-fetched. (Source.)

Expect to use two-three days for the kiddos to research WWII (focusing on Nazism), relate their findings to Saint-Exupéry's baobabs, create a Prezi, and share their presentations with the class. The total amount of time spent will depend on how familiar they are with WWII, their comfort level with researching, how much they've already discussed the baobabs, and their familiarity with Prezi.

Materials Needed: Computers (for researching and creating presentations); pen and paper for taking notes

Step 1: Studying WWII could take a huge amount of time, so we're just going to focus on the Nazis and see how they relate to the baobab trees. Go ahead and get students' brains warmed up by finding out what they already know about WWII. Once they get going, focus the discussion by honing in on what they know about the Nazis in particular.

Step 2: If you haven't already gone into the whole "The Little Prince is an allegory and many characters and situations in it have two meanings" speech, now is an excellent time to do that. Let them know that Saint-Exupéry did not specifically say what the baobabs represented, but baobabs symbolizing Nazis is highly probable.

Step 3: Break the class into pairs and give them the lowdown on how the research, project, and presentations will play out.

Step 4: Time for the students to research WWII, focusing on the Nazis and keeping the baobabs in mind. Here are some questions and websites to guide their search:

Step 5: Okay, time to connect the dots by relating what students have discovered about Nazis to what they read about the baobabs. Here are some guiding questions:

  • How does Saint-Exupéry describe the baobabs? (Check out Chapter 5.)
  • How are the baobabs and the Nazis similar?
  • The baobabs could have been used by Saint-Exupéry to symbolize a lot of things—obstacles in general, bad habits, selfish desires, or Nazis. What facts can the reader use to link the baobabs to Nazism? 
    • When was WWII?
    • Which country did Saint-Exupéry fight for during WWII? 
    • Saint-Exupéry fled France and landed in America in December 1940, partly to get away from Nazi-occupied France and partly to ask America to help the Allies. (Source.)
    • When was The Little Prince written? (Try Googling this exact question.)
  • Think about what Saint-Exupéry wrote about the baobabs. What do you think is the message to the reader?

Step 6: Time for the students to synthesize all this great info in a creative, logical, and unique way using Prezi. (PowerPoint is another option, or if computers aren't available for this part, they can present the old-fashioned way using posters.) Here's what kids need to include in their presentations:

  • Information on WWII Nazis
  • Relationships between WWII, Nazis, Saint-Exupéry, and the baobabs
  • If the baobab chapter is allegorical, what's the hidden meaning to the baobabs? 
  • Visuals and text
  • All sources must be cited.

Step 7: Enjoy the show!

Instructions for Your Students

Objective: Lots of people think The Little Prince is an allegory, and they have fun trying to figure out the hidden meanings in the different characters and situations. For example, people think that, amongst other things, the baobabs represent Nazis. Say what?

Of course it's possible that Saint-Exupéry wasn't thinking of anything except real trees when he wrote about the baobabs, but it's also highly possible that there's hidden meaning about the war that was going on at the time when he wrote the story, and about the Nazis that started that war, too.

Your job today is to dig up info on WWII (focusing on Nazism) and compare what you find to Saint-Exupéry's baobabs. Then you'll create a Prezi and share it with the class.

Step 1: Get the discussion started by sharing what you already know about WWII.

Step 2: Check out the definition of allegory if you don't already know what it is. Many characters and situations in the book have two meanings, including the baobabs. Saint-Exupéry doesn't specifically say what the baobabs represent, but Nazis are a highly probable option.

Step 3: Find a partner, then get pen and paper for taking notes and get thee to a computer.

Step 4: Time to research WWII. Focus on the Nazis, and keep the baobabs in the back of your mind. Here are some questions and websites to guide you:

Step 5: Now it's time to connect the dots by relating what you've discovered about Nazis to what you read about the baobabs. Here are some guiding questions:

  • How does Saint-Exupéry describe the baobabs? (Check out Chapter 5.)
  • How are the baobabs and the Nazis similar?
  • The baobabs could have been used by Saint-Exupéry to symbolize a lot of things—obstacles in general, bad habits, selfish desires, or Nazis. What facts can the reader use to link the baobabs to Nazism? 
  • Think about what Saint-Exupéry wrote about the baobabs. What do you think is the message to the reader?

Step 6: Time to synthesize (that's fancy for put together) all this great info in a creative, logical, and unique way using Prezi or some other presentation format of your teacher's choosing. Here's what you need to include in your presentation:

  • Information on WWII Nazis
  • Relationships between WWII, Nazis, Saint-Exupéry, and the baobabs
  • If the baobab chapter is allegorical, what's the hidden meaning to the baobabs? 
  • Visuals and text
  • All sources must be cited.

Step 7: Time to present! Break a leg…