The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupery , born in Lyon 29 June 1900, was a French writer and aviator. In 1921 he began his military service and trained as a pilot, and at the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the French Air Force flying reconnaissance missions. Later, he joined the Free French Forces but while flying a mission in the Rhone valley on 31 July 1944 he disappeared and was never seen again. It was assumed that he was shot down over the Mediterranean. An unidentifiable body wearing French colours was found several days later and buried in Carqueiranne that September.

Chris Riddell , the 2015-2017 UK Children's Laureate, is an accomplished artist and the political cartoonist for the Observer . He has enjoyed great acclaim for his books for children. His books have won a number of major prizes, including the 2001, 2004 and 2016 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse won the Costa Children's Book Award 2013. His work for Macmillan also includes the bestselling Ottoline books, The Emperor of Absurdia , and, with Paul Stewart, the Muddle Earth books, the Scavenger series and the Blobheads series. Chris has been honoured with an OBE in recognition of his illustration and charity work. He lives in Brighton with his family.