Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens : Peter and Wendy (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

J. M. Barrie (Author), Peter Hollingdale (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Oxford World's Classics

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 shows, their themes of imaginative escape continue to charm even those who long ago left Neverland. This is the first edition to include both texts in one volume and the first to a present an extensively annotated text for Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edited with an Introduction by Peter Hollindale, Senior Lecturer in English and Education at the University of York

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192839292
• ISBN-13: 978-0192839299
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book!, November 15, 2000

By 

Karen (Mt. Pleasant, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens : Peter and Wendy (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

This book is very imaginative and well written. James Barrie tells the history side of Peter Pan that most people do not know about. Each chapter tells a different story about Peter Pan's life in the garden. There are stories about Peter Pan living in the trees with the birds, to stories about how the fairies trick the humans who come to visit Kensington Gardens. This book is both funny and sad at parts, and will make you wonder if you were actually owned by a bird at sometime!

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More creative than his later, popular stories of Peter., July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and Peter and Wendy (Worlds Classics) (Paperback)

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Neat Package, March 18, 2007

By 

theboombody (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens : Peter and Wendy (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Hmm...., Peter and Wendy is obviously a five star book all the way, but what about Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens? Well, it's not really a complete book, first off. It's just a large section taken out of an earlier Barrie book titled The Little White Bird. So its very fragmented. Second, since it's more of a springboard the for ideas that formed the Peter Pan play than anything else, it repeats quite a bit of what we have already seen multiple times in many of the famous Peter Pan adaptations.

Even so, I did get a lot of enjoyment out of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Aside from the first chapter (which isn't much fun if you haven't been to the gardens), I was quite entertained. Barrie's theory that people are born as birds and then turn into humans afterward is pretty wild, and I loved Peter's interaction with the girl who was captured by the fairies. Peter thought he played games the same way all real boys did but just embarassed the heck out of himself, throwing the hula-hoops or whatever those things were in the water. Poor guy.

So all in all, you have a great introduction followed by a good book fragment and topped off with an all-time classic. Not a bad purchase at all.