"S'il vous plait...dessine-moi un mouton!"

My book, inscribed from Florence in May 1987.

I wrote this commentary from Anne M Lindbergh in my copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince:

The Little Prince comes down to earth from his miniature planet, touching several other worlds briefly en route. He is confused and distressed by what he finds on these outer realms. He meets a king who only wants to wield authority; a conceited man who lives for applause; a businessman who counts the stars; a geographer at a desk with his nose buried in scientific data; and a lamplighter, obeying outworn orders. None of these planetary beings can give him any reason for their occupations, or any sense of life. 
At last, on Earth's African desert, he meets a snake and a little fox who give him some answers. What is the point of life? What is essential?

 "What is essential" says the little fox, "is invisible to the eye, one can only see with the heart."

What is important are the bonds that link us to one another in a concept greater than oneself.

There was a moment in France, while we were watching the production of Le Petit Prince in Paris at the Lucernaire, that I felt connected to the language, I felt understanding happening and in my letter to Mom I write: 'We were quite enchanted and just so proud of our progress that we could understand the play!'

Fred's Mom had offered to babysit and we had taken ourselves to the theatre to see this French classic, and it has stayed with me, the experience, the illustrations, the story and the expression; 'S'il vous plait...dessine-moi un mouton'.
"So you can imagine my surprise when, at daybreak, I awoke to a funny little voice, saying "Please... draw me a sheep."