PETER PAN by J.M.Barrie

This is another classic I had never read before thanks to Walt Disney's Cartoons.

Peter Pan is quite a selfish child who doesn't remember things, but at the same time he has a strong sense of justice and is always quick to help those in danger. The adventures narrated in the book are pretty famous and have been largely developed so I really couldn't imagine my own film.

Maybe this is the reason why I really enjoyed the details of this book. They are at the beginning, when the protagonist are still in the real world and fantasy is more necessary. 

Can you imagine three yawning night-lights or a twinkling little star in the Milky Way screaming: "Now, Peter!"?

Such miracles are possible only if you are a child and J.M.Barrie, the author, sensitively reminds  those who aren't so young anymore.

This book arrived when the Puritan point of view of children (necessarily disobedient like Adam) and their education (in fear of God) started to be replaced by the new Romantic movement's concepts: kids are innocent and childhood is a sacred time of life. Children's literature is seen as a way to expand their imagination and question the ready-made reality imposed by adults.

Is this why sit contains swallows build their nests in the eaves of houses to listen to stories and birds consulting maps at windy corners of the sky?

Once arrived at Neverland everything was already known and alive: the Island was exactly how its little guests have dreamt of it every night.

Another scene I found really hilarious is the one where everyone is looking for the one silently walking a few paces before him, creating a big ring of people moving all around the island the night the children were carried off in chapter twelve.

It was so inspirational that it appeared in Robert L. Stevenson's Treasure Island too.  

Fairies, flying children, pirates, indians, mermaids and Never birds come true for just a short period of everyone's life, until, like the old stars, we become glassy-eyed and stop to believe in our little fairy, killing her.

Many activities related to the story are available online:

FACTSHEETS by Penguin

PETER PAN LESSON PLAN by Great Ormond Street Hospital



MORE BOOKS YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl

MOMO by Michael Ende

 

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