New Issue: The Little Prince (France)

France have issued a fantastic new stamp to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince).

This is a massively popular children's book in France, probably the most well-known work of children's fiction ever. Like all good children's books, it is also one that adults can enjoy and it has been translated into 600 languages. I even have a copy of one in English. It's a great adventure story but also one that is quite philosophical and poetic.

The author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry died during World War II, but the book was not published in France until 1946. This stamp is part of La Poste's 2026 youth series and commemorates "the 80th anniversary of the first edition's publication... A timeless work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, it transcends generations and borders, carried by a universal message."

Design Quality - It's one of the famous pictures from the book and I don't think anything else could really have worked. The stars in the border are important because, in the story, the prince says "And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night." 10/10

Theme/Subject Choice - It's the 80th anniversary of a children's book that has sold over 300,000,000 copies. I think that's a pretty great subject choice! However, only five years ago special stamps were created for the 75th anniversary, so maybe it's a little soon to revisit the same theme especially when there's no new angle here. 7/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance - The Little Prince remains as culturally relevant as ever and the 80th anniversary is an important occasion. 9/10

Innovation and Creativity - The drawing itself is creative but I think the stamp has been well designed. It's great tribute and, as I say, I am not sure that the designer could do much else. If you're celebrating an 80-year old children's story then you're going to use a classic picture from it. I don't to be critical because it's exactly what I would have done too.

The border is a nice touch too. But it's hard to create a stamp like this and be too creative or innovative because you want the original illustration to speak for itself. 6/10

Collectability - This will be quite collectable. I am sure it will be very popular in France where The Little Prince is loved as a timeless classic. Other people who appreciate The Little Prince or who like stamps aimed at younger people might enjoy it too.

However, it's not the fist time that France has created stamps o The Little Prince. Below are some from previous years, all based on the classic original drawings. You will see a booklet of 12 stamps was created just five years ago for the 75th anniversary as well as a special single stamp for "75 ans". This is also one of many stamps this year that La Poste is creating to mark the anniversary. They're all wonderful but also because there are so many of them they may not feel quite as collectable. 7/10

1998

2021

2021

Personal Appeal - I have the book (in English) but I do not know much about its history, the author or the influences. I have been reading about it just now and have discovered some things that were interesting and quite surprising. I definitely think this is a perfect subject for a French stamp and I also think this is a better stamp that the 2021 set, which lacked interesting backgrounds. 7/10

Overall Score - 46/60