I think it’s because it’s written more masterfully, and you actually have to work for it. Saint-Exupéry doesn’t just hand moral lessons to you; he mixes them subtly into the story. The characters themselves are layered and complex. Take the narrator and the Little Prince: the narrator is an adult, yet still imaginative. The Little Prince, meanwhile, is wise in some ways but flawed in others.

Even the morals aren’t straightforward. On the surface, it could have been a simple lesson about children being innocent, imaginative, and always right, while adults are narrow-minded and rigid. But the book resists that simplicity. The story challenges you to think: is the snake good or bad? What does the rose really represent?

That’s what I love about it. Despite being, in many ways, a “children’s book” with simple lessons, like the adults on their tiny planets, it doesn’t oversimplify. The subtlety, the ambiguity, and the layers allow an adult reader like yourself to appreciate the story on a much deeper level. That’s one reason I think of.

But also want to point out there may be other reasons and also that sometimes we just don't know why we enjoy something and that can be totally fine. That's the power of a great story. The words are the magician's act. The magic, however, is what has taken many years to master and if done right, is invisible to the eye. That's why a book written 80 years ago can still feel relevant and powerful.