The book has been extremely transformative for me at multiple points in my life as I've aged. If I could only recommend a single piece of fiction, it would probably be The Little Prince.

I also highly recommend the 2015 animated film adaptation. It has a rock-solid cast, and presents the classic story within entirely new layers of interpretation that speak to multiple generations at once. It's a real tearjerker that only gets more potent with age.

I'm also not sure why so many commenters here seem confused or negative towards The Little Prince. It is a timeless, culture-invariant treatise on the most precious and important facets of human existence.

Well... enough bad memory of some teacher wanting us all to read and ponder this thing in class, seemingly with the confused notion that this would be some kind of lesson in psychology.

I think the author would be very surprised if he'd been there to see what amount of fluff has been generated around his nice and simple quasi-autobiographical codebook.

And outside France too!

I would add that there is something in it for all ages. I have read it many times, between ages 6 and 25 and in different languages. The later readings were for language learning without any expectations but each time I finished it, I was deeply touched.

With that it’s also a great one to read with kids.

This book got a bad reputation in Brazil because a famous actress (who supposedly isn't very bright) once said it was her favourite book.

When I finally decided to give it a try, I found it to be a very interesting read.

So, you can bet people who show disdain for it probably haven't read it. Or they have weak character and are afraid to be considered dumb by association.