The world famous Le Petit Prince was added to the canon of translation in Scots this week with the publication of a new version by Susan Rennie. Rennie is a former editor of The Dictionary of the Scots Language, co-founder of Itchy Coo Books, and has been gaining a growing reputation in recent years with her Scots versions of classics such as Tintin and Roald Dahl.

Le Petit Prince (Little Prince in English) or The Wee Prince is ostensibly a children’s book. It was written in 1943 by French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) while in exile in the USA. It tells the story of an aviator who is forced to land in the Sahara desert and meets a boy whom he calls the Little Prince who has fallen to Earth from an asteroid. The boy describes his experiences, six other asteroids inhabited by lone, narrow-minded and irrational adults, and converses with a talking fox and talking snake. As the story unfolds, the reader will realise that it is a comment on human nature, and a critique of various aspects of the human character. In essence, the aviator meets his inner child and learns those qualities children have but which adults have lost. It is a very emotional and very moving tale which will appeal to adults and children alike.

The Wee Prince by Susan Rennie is 96pp (ISBN 978-3-946190-59-2) priced £10.99 and is published by Edition Tintenfass. For more information, or to order a copy, please contact info@verlag-tintenfass.de .