This book is a favourite of June 2011 Guest Editor Michael Morpurgo: "This was the first story, I think, that ever made me cry. What was strange was that I wanted to read it over and over again. It still has the power to make me cry."
Sally Grindley, December 2010 Guest Editor also chose The Happy Prince:
"This is one of those tales that haunts you long after it has ended. It’s beautifully narrated, timeless and ‘placeless’ and full of hidden messages. The Prince is a golden statue with precious stones for eyes. When Swallow perches on him on her way to Egypt, he asks her to distribute his eyes and gold to all the poor people he sees below him. Swallow takes pity on him when he has lost finery and decides to stay with him over the winter… The tale is haunting me again now, many years after I first read it."