Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and Peter and Wendy

by J.M. Barrie

Book Overview

In Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, J.M. Barrie first created Peter Pan as a baby, living a wild and secret life with birds and fairies in the middle of London. Later Barrie let this remarkable child grow a little older and he became the boy-hero of Neverland, making his first appearance, with Wendy, Captain Hook, and the Lost Boys, in Peter and Wendy. The Peter Pan stories were Barrie's only works for children but, as their persistent popularity...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199537844
• ISBN13: 9780199537846
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 6

Customer Reviews

Revisit Peter Pan and get New Insight

I've been working on a piece of writing for a long time now, based on the Pan myth. I thought I knew it--but no. This book, prepared with the excellent scholarship you'd expect of Oxford--gives background and original text of Barrie's writings that is incredible.

Fascinating tale.

If you never read the original tale and all you know is Disney's Peter Pan, be prepared for a completely different mood. Yes, Peter Pan is the kid that didn't want to grow, the lost boys and Wendy are there, but there is a constant sense of tragedy in the novel due to Peter need of love and denial of it. The book is masterfully written, borderline with surrealism, and very vivid imagery.

Peter Pan

I had only seen a movie of Peter Pan, but the book "Peter Pan and Wendy" is infinitely better. I am taking a course on children's literature, and this was required reading. The book has so many more details, and seems to be written more for adults than children.

A classic

This is an utterly charming work. It has been retold myriad times, but nobody else has done it as well as the original teller, J. M. Barrie.It's difficult to know what to say about a book like this... everybody knows the story. But I guess that unless you've read this book (not just seen a movie or read a retelling), you don't really know the character Peter Pan, and without knowing the character, you don't really know the story. So read it.By the way, if you enjoy this, you probably would also like "Sentimental Tommy" and its sequel "Tommy and Grizel", both by Barrie. There are differences (for one thing they're not fantasy), but there are also compelling similarities. Anybody who found Peter Pan a deep and slightly bittersweet book would be sure to enjoy them.-Stephen

More creative than his later, popular stories of Peter.

If you buy this book, definately get an illistrated edition! The fairy images are gorgeous and worth treasuring. The story itself is beautiful: How Peter fell out of his tram, was taught by the birds to fly and finally returned home to find the window locked to him.