Most Famous Quote: “Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé - You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."

Le Petit Prince was first published in 1943 and has since been translated into more than 180 languages and dialects. Given that it comes in at Number 3 for the highest selling books of all time (behind only the Bible and Gone With The Wind), it is not only the most famous children’s story you could read, but has touched at least 50 million lives in the process of becoming so.

The story follows the petit histoires of a little prince, who the author discovers stranded in the desert when his own plane crashes in the Sahara. The little prince lives on a tiny planet, where he cultivates a flower that he loves, and must pull out Baobab trees every day. The little prince goes travelling across the universe, meets a number of silly adults, and in the process of the book, reveals a number of “secrets” that children know and adults forget... to their detriment.

Illustrated by de Saint-Exupery’s own illustrations, the story is a precious message about the importance of love, responsibility, and caring. It is a charming book that leaves no mystery in the reason for its universal appeal to children and adults everywhere – so take it from the children and read it. Becase les grandes personnes ne comprennent jamais rien toutes seules, et c'est fatigant, pour les enfants, de toujours et toujours leur donner des explications - Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to have to explain things to them always and forever.

2. The Adventures Of Tintin – Berge (Georges Remi)


Most Famous Quote: Any colourful insult. Eg “mille millions de mille milliards de mille sabords! - Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!”

The comic book artist Berge who was responsible for creating The Adventures of Tintin was not French, but Belgian. Nonetheless, his French-language comics about the adventures of a Belgian reporter, his dog Milou, and a whole host of crazy characters, including the grumpy Captain Haddock; deaf Professor Tournesol; and the incompetent detectives Dupond and Dupont, has delighted audiences worldwide, and particularly in France.

There are now some 23 albums of comic strips on Tintin, which have been translated into over 50 languages, and more than 200 million copies have been sold to date. The original language version also remains a great way for students of French, of all ages, to learn the language in practice.

Tintin books are described as containing slapstick humour, satire and political commentary. Alternatively, they’re just a whole lot of colourful fun and Tonnerre de Brest! for the junior reader.

3. Babar – Jean de Brunhoff

Most Famous Quote: “Dans la grande forêt un petit éléphant est né. Il s’appelle Babar - In the great forest a little elephant is born. His name is Babar…”

Babar the elephant is well-known in English-speaking countries, and many would be surprised that this little cutey was originally a popular children’s character in his native France. First published in 1931, the tales of Babar are sweetly illustrated in watercolours, and tell the story of a young elephant who leaves the jungle to see “civilised” life (i.e. Paris), then brings all those secrets back to his home in the jungle.

Six Babar stories were originally written by de Brunhoff, but after his death, the job fell to his son Laurent de Brunhoff, who continued the series with gusto, adding another ten stories to the collection.

Although the books have been criticised for their explicit support of French colonialism in “backward” Africa, they have been the inspiration for a number of films and television shows since the 1960s, both in French and English. They remain a passion for many, no doubt less due to their perceived political messages, and more to their undeniably endearing and stylised illustrations.

 4. Petit Nicholas – Rene Goscinny (illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempe)

The tales of Petit Nicholas are told from little Nicholas’ perspective, and for this reason make them a creative and distinctively cute account of the world of children.

Nicholas tells his stories in the voice of a child, which includes all the simplicity, egocentricity and flawed grammar of a little person. But like le Petit Prince, in telling his tales like this, the stories allow adults to remember all those things they have forgotten in the course of becoming boring big people.

Nicholas’s adventures cover the gamut of his life, from school adventures to holidays, and include a host of colourful characters including his parents, his wide spread of school friends, and school teachers. It has sold more than 10 million copies in over 30 countries, and is scheduled for adaptation into a movie next year.

5. Contes de Mere l’Oye (The Tales Of Mother Goose) – Charles Perrault

The Tales of Mother Goose have charmed English as well as French audiences for hundreds of years. First penned in literary form by Charles Perrault in 1695, the stories were translated into English in 1729, and have since been cemented as a classic childhood standard the world over.

Tales of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Thumb, Puss in Boots, Blue Beard and Little Red Riding Hood have defined children for generations. But how about The Fairy and Riquet of the Tuft? If you’d like the full Mother Goose treatment, no child’s bookcase should be without the Contes de Mere l’Oye.

6. Voyage au Centre de la Terre (Journey to the Centre of the Earth)– Jules Verne

Pitched at older child readers, Journey to the Centre of the Earth is a science fiction classic that follows the adventures of a professor, his nephew and their guide, who enter a volcano in Iceland and take the much-mused trip into the centre of everyone’s favourite planet, Earth.

As would be expected from adventures of this scale, the classic tale has not only captured bookworms but also film buffs over the last hundred years, with big screen adaptations made in 1959 and 1976, and a new James Cameron 3D film (starring Brendan Fraser) planned for July 2008. In the meantime, you can obtain an English translation of the work for free, courtesy of Project Gutenberg – just click here .

7. Les Malheurs de Sophie – Comtesse de Segur

First published in 1859, Les Malheurs de Sophie was written by a woman (gasp!) and rightfully seeks to impart a message of good behaviour upon all children who might suffer the temptation to be wicked. The stories centre upon a mischievous little girl called Sophie, along with her accomplice, cousin Paul. Each story is an opportunity for the Comtesse to provide a moral education on how to be gentle, truthful and sincere, while avoiding those terrible sins of greediness, lying and stealing that children so often feel tempted to skip into.

While we would never suggest that your little one needs any sort of French education on such topics (!) the series has been highly popular in France, and undoubtedly has indirectly moulded generations of French people who feel obliged to tell you right from wrong on the street, in the park, at the pharmacy, etc... The edition must therefore be an essential item for any self-respecting Francophile!

8. L’Imagier du Pere Castor – Anne Telier

In France, an “imagier” is a picture book designed with the intention of introducing children to a wider vocabulary. “L’imagier du Pere Castor” is a French classic, created in the 1950s, and still a whimsical, standard nursery item sixty years later. It contains 470 illustrated words, which are grouped into 10 themes. Along with a doudou, this petit livre is a “must” for any respecting French child… or any adult student of French who wants to improve their vocabulary!

9. La Science de l’ Oncle Paul: Entretiens Familiers due les Animaux, les Plantes, les Mineraux, le Ciel, la Terre, l’Industrie – The Story Book Of Science – Jean Henri Fabre

Jean Henri Fabre was a naturalist whose writings have appealed to beetle-hunting boys and grub-catching girls, as well as passionate adults, for almost one hundred years.

Fabre wrote prolifically on scientific subjects, and although he was responsible for a number of children-oriented writings in addition to adult editions, his 1918 offering, The Story Book Of Science, tells of nature’s mysteries in a charming and delicate fashion, through conversations between the main character Uncle Paul and his willing students. The language is a little heavy and dated, but the sentiment is enough to have you dusting off the butterfly net and wandering the hot Normandy countryside seeking crickets this summer.

10. La Belle Nivernaise–Alphonse Daudet

Alphonse Daudet wrote mostly for adults, but also wrote a number of stories for children, which captured their beating little hearts in high fashion. The most famous of these stories is La Belle Nivernaise, which tells of an old boat and her crew.

The story does not appear to have been translated into English, but may be downloaded in original language through Project Gutenberg – just click here.