The Happy Prince is a fairytale written by Oscar Wilde and if you haven’t heard it I would give it a listen. It shares certain qualities with those found in Hans Christian Anderson’s tales, perhaps most directly with The Steadfast Tin Soldier and Thumbelina. But it stands alone in its almost Buddhist emphasis on the truth and mystery of suffering, and compassion as the answer to suffering (notwithstanding the God frame at the end). I would recommend listening to this story with your children as there is much to discuss and explore: particularly the sparrow’s journey through life and how to balance self and other, desire and compassion; the “happy prince’s” enlightenment, and the cost of human greed, pride, anger, vanity and disdain; and what are we to make of the sparrow’s courtship with the reed! An amazing story, that while it doesn’t have the extraordinary plot twists of the two aforementioned stories by Hans Christian Anderson, tells a universal tale of human desire, suffering and compassion. Good for kids 8-14.
