Peter Pan [Hardcover]

J. M. Barrie (Author), Scott Gustafson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: October 1, 1991 | Age Range: 1 and up

Available again, this popular edition of Peter Pan includes the complete and unabridged text accompanied by fifty full-color paintings by Scott Gustafson. Kirkus Reviews wrote "Gustafson's lusty oil paintings of the pirates are akin to N.C. Wyeth's...[he] is a talented craftsman who skillfully melds his references to past greats to create an appropriately traditional style that has enough of a contemporary aura for broad popular appeal." Children and parents will feel like they're in Neverland, too, with this definitive edition of Barrie's timeless classic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"All children, except one, grow up." Thus begins a great classic of children's literature that we all remember as magical. What we tend to forget, because the tale of Peter Pan and Neverland has been so relentlessly boiled down, hashed up, and coated in saccharine, is that J.M. Barrie's original version is also witty, sophisticated, and delightfully odd. The Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael, live a very proper middle-class life in Edwardian London, but they also happen to have a Newfoundland for a nurse. The text is full of such throwaway gems as "Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter Pan when she was tidying up her children's minds," and is peppered with deliberately obscure vocabulary including "embonpoint," "quietus," and "pluperfect." Lest we forget, it was written in 1904, a relatively innocent age in which a plot about abducted children must have seemed more safely fanciful. Also, perhaps, it was an age that expected more of its children's books, for Peter Pan has a suppleness, lightness, and intelligence that are "literary" in the best sense. In a typical exchange with the dastardly Captain Hook, Peter Pan describes himself as "youth... joy... a little bird that has broken out of the egg," and the author interjects: "This, of course, was nonsense; but it was proof to the unhappy Hook that Peter did not know in the least who or what he was, which is the very pinnacle of good form." A book for adult readers-aloud to revel in--and it just might teach young listeners to fly. (Ages 5 and older) --Richard Farr

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-7-- A pleasure to view, read, and hold, this new edition of an old favorite deserves space in every collection. From jacket painting, to cover (with Tinker Bell embossed in gold), to endpapers (dark maps of Neverland), Gustafson's artwork opens doors to glimpses of old friends and to new interpretations. Fifty oil paintings reveal expressive, changing characters. Peter Pan is dewy-cheeked, spry, wicked. Maternal Wendy is tender, then stoic. Even Hook is at times downcast. The Indians, proud and handsome, avoid stereotype. Masterly composition and use of light create dramatic full-page illustrations, accompanied by cameos of ordinary objects (kite, bear, tea kettle). Compared to Hague's illustrations for Peter Pan (Holt, 1987), which were dark and surreal, these are light and vital. Handsome bookmaking, Barrie's text, and Gustafson's pictures combine to breathe new life into Peter Pan's old shadow. --Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Age Range: 1 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (October 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670841803
• ISBN-13: 978-0670841806
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.8 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (255 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 123 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, when not denatured by Disney July 21, 2005

By A. Burke

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Yes, there is darkness in Peter Pan - and in Alice, too, and in The Wizard of Oz - and certainly in Felix Salton's Bambi. These books, while written for young people, and which may be described as fantasy, have real plots and real characters who are not perfect. Peter Pan is selfish and stubborn as well as charming because children are not angels - they are little humans. Alice is highly critical of the adults in her dream world - adults who act very arbitrarily and often foolishly, as adults often do. Bambi is about the effects of human cruelty on animals; it deals with death and pain. One of the indications that these are good books, and not merely children's books, is that they can be read at different stages of life with new layers of understanding. You don't have to outgrow them, and they are better than many a book written for adults. The 'real' Pan and Alice and Bambi may not be suitable for the very youngest children, but please don't deprive your children culturally by never giving them anything but Disney's cutesy interpretations. For one thing, Barrie and Salton and Carroll were great writers who used words beautifully and had insightand feeling. Children deserve art as much as adults.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Pan Review May 9, 2004

By Katherine Trimble

Format:Paperback

Peter Pan is the timeless classic everyone has grown up to. It has been passed down from generation to generation but it all started with one man, J. M. Barrie. When anyone tells the story of Peter Pan most adults don't think it is suitable for them. They think that it is simply a children's story and always will be. However, Barrie made sure that this story would be appropriate for all ages. Some of the language might be a bit difficult for the youngest range but the context helps to figure out a funny word or two. It appeals to the older range because of the layers it conceals. Behind each game they play is a message. Hidden under each smile Wendy gives to Peter is her hidden kiss. However, this story relates mostly to teenagers as they are going through the stage of growing up. Just days before I read Peter Pan I thought of how nice it would be to be free of homework and school. I thought how wonderful it would be to grow up and be independent. After reading this story, and seeing it exactly how Barrie told it, I don't want to grow up as much as Peter Pan and Wendy don't want to. I first heard the story, from seeing the movie, at a very young age, probably around the time I was 2 or 3. Disney tried hard to incorporate everything from the book but they didn't get every meaning or all the symbolism. For example, Mrs. Darling and Wendy Darling both have a hidden kiss. This kiss is hidden under the right hand corner of their mouths and only their true love can find it. Because Mr. Darling can't find Mrs. Darling's kiss, perhaps Barrie is trying to say that although she loves Mr. Darling dearly, he isn't her true love. Barrie fills his book with the perfect amount of detail and color. Children don't get bored because there is too much and adults don't need any more. At one point in the story, Barrie writes about the adventures at the lagoon. "If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire." It is work like this that captures the reader and makes them never put the book down. The action and the drama are another reason such a wide age range is attached to this story. The lost boys go on countless raids and enticing adventures that children can only dream about. The love story between Peter and Wendy thickens throughout the entire book and we don't know till the end whether the Darlings will return home to England or stay in Neverland forever. Barrie does such an incredible job with the characters I felt I had met each one personally. John and Michael are as adorable as ever, Captain Hook as evil, Tinkerbell as envious, Peter as cocky and Wendy as in love. Though the title expresses that the story is about Peter Pan, I think one of Barrie's hidden messages was that it was really Wendy's story. Peter Pan can meet many more pirates and have many more adventures but Wendy only had that one time with him. She could only be his mother, or possibly his only love, once in her life. She was supposed to go back to Neverland every spring to do Peter's spring cleaning but he forgot almost every year. Barrie might have been trying to show how forgetful little boys are. He also might have been trying to show Peter's denial that Wendy might grow up. If Peter didn't go back then Wendy might not grow up. If he didn't go back he wouldn't be reminded that he lost the love of his life. Barrie did a phenomenal job with this story. His ideas make you wonder why we have to grow up and why none of us have ever been able to see Tink's glow, outside of our dreams. This book is suitable for all ages and the only thing that could make it even better were if we could be in the story ourselves.

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best edition as far as I know May 14, 2007

By Paula Mastroberti

Format:Hardcover

I'm a researcher in illustrated books and I'm interested particularly in Peter Pan's illustrators. I think Hague got the spirirt of the Barrie's story; his pieces translate the text not only as mere fantasy tale for children; they catch the the adult view, and the text's dual audience.

I recommend this publishing for everyone, parents, children and whoever appreciate the art of illustration.