Prince-ly Presents

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. -Newton's Third Law 

My bookshelf is filling up with copies of the Prince. 

The exchanges began almost two years ago

I had just restyled my family room bookcases and shared the story here in these pages.

You can read the original post here.

In one of the photo captions, I mentioned that I'd love to have a copy of The Little Prince in Spanish, affectionately known by my high school self as El Principito.

Little did I know that a lovely Spanish lady would soon read those words. But so she did, and the kind and generous Mónica reached out to me and offered to send me a copy.

I said yes in a heartbeat.

Once I held that adorable muchacho in my very own hands, I wanted to return the favor. Monica had told me that her daughter collected The Little Prince books in different languages, and since I was soon on my way to Vietnam. I decided to make it my mission to find a copy for her there.

Alas, no Vietnamese Princes were to be found. So I settled for a Taiwanese Prince, which I discovered at an airport bookstore during my layover in Taipei. Off it went to Mónica's hija in Spain.

A few months later, on a shopping trip to Hoi An. my daughter came across a copy of the Vietnamese version and snatched him up for me. Eventually, that Prince made his way to España as well.

This past summer, Mónica and her family holidayed in the south of France, and thoughtfully purchased a copy of the French Prince for me.

If you would like to send me a book from your country too, just ask. I'll certainly say yes. 

He arrived in my mailbox just this week, along with a gingerbread house ornament and a sweet Christmas greeting from my dear Spanish amiga.

I'm thrilled to add another volume to my rapidly expanding collection.

I'm delighted to have such a special friend and interesting, international ritual.

And since my third-born will soon be moving to South Korea, I'm already planning my next Prince-ly present for Mónica.