Peter Pan (Scribner Classics) (Barnes & Noble's Leatherbound Children's Classics) (Graphic Revolve: Common Core Editions)

by J.M. Barrie

"Peter Pan" is one of the most famous children's stories in which the eponymous hero leads the Darling children on a wild adventure to a magical land where they never grow up and which is peopled with fairies, pirates, redskins, mermaids and the infamous Captain Hook. "Peter Pan" was first performed as a play in 1904. Although the original idea for Peter Pan first appeared in an adult novel of Barrie's, "The Little White Bird", the children's version was not set down on paper until 1911. Jan Omerod has illustrated many picture books including "Sunshine", "Moonlight", "101 things to do with a baby" and "Rhymes around the day"

• ISBN10: 0670808628
• ISBN13: 9780670808625
• Publish Date: 4 January 1988
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 11 July 1996
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Puffin
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[leahrosereads]

I've heard that this is a great book to read if you want to get into classics. If that's the case, I'm not sure the classics are for me. It took me two tries to get through, but I've finally finished a story that almost everyone says they've read and loved.

And while I definitely loved the whimsy of the story, I realized for the first time how diabolical and ego-maniacal Peter really is, and it crushed my soul a little. I didn't notice it in the movies growing up, but maybe, I just didn't know what those traits looked like until now.

Oh well, I'll always have my childhood wonder for my favorite character in memories, even if the book demolished that idea in adulthood.

[wcs53]

I'm not sure how I missed out on reading Peter Pan when I was growing, but somehow I did. In order to rectify this, I put it on my list of 50 classics to read for The Classics Club by the end of 2017. Although I would have read it eventually, the reason I just read it now was it was the number that came up on the latest Classics Club lucky spin.

I really enjoyed the book, but probably not as much as some others have. I'm not sure if this is due to the fact that I didn't read it as a child or not. I have seen the Disney version quite a number of times and that may have spoiled the way I looked at this book anyway. Although the basic story in the movie is quite similar, in many ways the book is much darker and deeper. Of course, it's hard to know whether or not I would have picked up on this as a child or not anyway.

Most of us, like Peter Pan, have probably at one time or another wished that we didn't have to grow up. However, like Wendy, we have probably had to come to the conclusion that it is inevitable. This tension always seems to be present in reading this book, which my be why it is enjoyed by people of all ages - those who have yet to grow up and those who already have, perhaps with the idea that it might have happened too soon or too quickly.

Unfortunately, because it is a product of its time, some of the ideas and language are dated. Such things as the underlying sexism and the portrayal of the 'redskins' would not be allowed today, but the book is what it is and in its context these things would have been the norm.

This book is worth reading, if only to see the story in its original form. What I saw was that although the Disney movie is a polished effort, it took some of the edge off of it. One thing I wish is that I had read it when I was younger, but it's only one thing among many and I'm sure we all have things like that in our life. Another thing I know for sure is that, unlike Peter Pan, I'm glad I didn't stay young forever.