Graded English reader for finishing The Little Prince: Dangye English

These days, I have so many worries about my child’s education—especially English. I studied it for well over a decade in school, yet why is it still so hard to get even one sentence out of my mouth...? I once opened an English picture book to read to my child, and whenever an unfamiliar word popped up, I could feel a cold sweat running down my back.

You hear it all the time: if Mom shows that she enjoys English first, the child will follow. So I bought original English books a few times, partly for my own study and partly for my child’s education, but my bookshelf is full of books I gave up on before even finishing chapter one. Every time I looked up an unfamiliar word, the flow broke, it stopped being fun, and I just couldn’t keep going.

But this time, I found a life-changing book that completely restored my English confidence! It’s Dangye English The Little Prince. I heard that more than 5,000 supporters had gone wild for it on Wadiz, so I opened it out of curiosity—and ended up finishing it in one sitting.

I think it would be wonderful for adults with English anxiety like me, and for children who are just moving on to chapter books, so I’m leaving a detailed review.

Five levels in one book

The thing that surprised me most when I first received it was the format. Normally, when you buy graded readers, you have to buy Level 1 separately, then Level 2 separately, right? They are not cheap, and they are a hassle to store, but this book contains everything from Level 1 through Level 5—the original text—in one volume. It is structured so that you read Level 1 like clearing a game quest, gain confidence, then move on to Levels 2 and 3.

How easy is Level 1?

Level 1 is so easy that you might think, Is this really an English book? Honestly, I was moved when I opened Level 1. The sentences are made up only of words at middle-school—or rather, elementary-school—level. On top of that, 99% of the sentences are in the present tense.

We all roughly know the story of The Little Prince: the boa constrictor, the rose, and so on. Reading that story in very simple sentences, I could picture it directly in my head without going through a translation process. I thought this is exactly the level at which children learning to read English independently could keep reading without getting bored.

Sentences that change naturally as you read the same story

What is fascinating about Level 2 is that after reading Level 1, you find the content is the same but the sentences have changed slightly. What was “I see” in Level 1 becomes “I saw” in Level 2.

Instead of opening a grammar book and forcing yourself to memorize irregular past-tense verb forms, you naturally realize while reading the story, Oh, because this is a story about the past, the form changes like this.

As you reach Levels 3 and 4, the sentences fill out. Modifiers appear and sentence structures gradually become more complex, but because you have already understood the story in the earlier levels, it never feels difficult. I really felt firsthand that this is the effect of rereading.

Meeting the original The Little Prince at Level 5

The final Level 5 is the original text written by Saint-Exupéry. In the past, I would have given up while looking up words after the first sentence, but after going through Levels 1 to 4, I already knew the vocabulary and the story, right? No secret that, with a tiny bit of exaggeration, I experienced the miracle of reading it as smoothly as a Korean book, haha.

Seeing is believing! Let me show you the notes I made on the passage describing the boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant. Once you see how the sentences evolve at each stage, you will get the idea right away. Can you see it? Because it climbs step by step like this, even an English failure like me gets that “Huh? I’m actually kind of good at English?” illusion (?)—and a huge burst of confidence.

How I used it for parent-led English and solo reading

Reading with my child: Levels 1 and 2

For my child, who is still preschool age, I read the Level 1 section aloud. Once my child is more familiar with it, I plan to read Level 2 as well.

My own soothing reading time: Levels 3–5

After my child falls asleep, I read the later levels. The Little Prince feels completely different when you read it again as an adult, doesn’t it? “If you come at four in the afternoon, then at three I shall begin to be happy.” The feeling of being moved when I read that famous line in the original English... There is an emotion in the original language that a Korean translation cannot give you.

I keep a notebook for copying passages and casually write down sentences I love. This has become my best healing time these days.

Shadowing with the audiobook

There is a QR code on the cover, and when you scan it, you can listen to native-speaker audio. It is perfect for practicing shadowing (repeating along) while doing dishes or driving. The Level 1 audio is played at a good speed too, so I really recommend it for listening beginners.

There is audio for every level too, which is soooo convenient.

There are so many English books on the market these days. But I think books that thoughtfully set the table at the reader’s level like this are rare. Rather than being intimidated by the high mountain of original English text, you can start slowly at the lowest level, so it feels much less overwhelming.

• Adults like me who gave up on English but want to start studying again and do not know where to begin
• People doing parent-led English who want to show their children the joy of reading original English books
• Anyone who considers The Little Prince a life-changing book

After finishing this book, I have that sense of achievement: I finished an original English book too! I think I’ll buy some other stories this time as well.