I was looking through the boards for an answer to this question, and no one appears to have asked it, or even touched on the topic in a decade:
So why has Le Petit Prince been translated into 200+ languages? It’s up there with the Bible and … I don’t think there’s anything else in that range (Tao Te Ching? The Little Red Book? Some nonsense self-published by a crazy person?) Why this book?
My guess would be because it’s short, simple, well written, appealing to both children and adults, and touches on universal themes and imagery.
Take a look at this Wikipedia entry:
So the things with at least 100 translations are (according to this article) the Bible, a number of Jehovah’s Witness writings, the U.N. declaration of human rights, Pilgrim’s Progress, Pinocchio, The Adventures of Asterix, Hans Christian Anderson’s collection of fairy tales, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Steps to Christ, and The Little Prince.
Then take a look at this Wikipedia entry on the best-selling books: