Peter Pan

Author: J. M. Barrie
Year first published: 1911
Number of pages: 207

J. M. Barrie writes an exiting book about the adventures of Peter Pan and his companions. I enjoyed reading this book as it was very descriptive and fun. Peter Pan is a classic, old English tale about a young boy who can never grow up.  He takes children with him to his home in Neverland, to have adventures of all sorts. They fight pirates, meet mermaids, make peace with Redskins (as they are called in the book), and watch out for the dreaded crocodile and Captain Hook! Peter Pan starts out a bit slow, and a lot of the writing is in old English, which can be very hard to understand. There were a couple of places where I was confused as to what the author was getting at, but overall I loved reading it!

I absolutely loved Disney's version of Peter Pan, and I expected almost the same story from the book, and that was not the case. They use all of the basics, but Disney's version is more kid-friendly, and I was expecting that from the book as well. Peter Pan himself is much different. He is immensely self-absorbed, cocky, and selfish. It's almost funny, the relationship between he and Wendy. He thinks of her somewhat like a mother and really nothing more. She loves him, and is frustrated and upset because he doesn't see her that way. He saves her a couple of times, but it is mostly because of what is in it for himself. In the end though, I think he is truly grateful for her.

Peter Pan is a great character who is fun and ready for anything.  I was just surprised at his true personality. Also, Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell is a fairy, Peter Pan's best friend and companion, but she is quite rude and mean in the book. Even though she is a fairy, she loves Peter, and gets extremely jealous and angry about the way that Wendy feels about him. She even tries to kill Wendy several times. James Hook, captain of the band of pirates that roam the island, is a surprisingly complicated character. Barrie tells a good bit of backstory about Hook, and his character. Hook is actually quite a conflicted person, and he his hard on himself because he feels he has to have "good form" because of what was thrust upon him in his childhood. Hook is also a scheming, nasty character, but his backstory really interested me.

All in all, I thought Peter Pan was a magical book! I would recommend this book for ages around 10 and up, because the language that the writer uses can be difficult to understand, and there is a lot of very descriptive and sometimes confusing places. There is also a bit of fighting, and occasionally a little bit of blood and wounds. There is more to Peter Pan than what meets the eye, so I encourage you to pick it up!