Product Description

A fabulously redesigned edition of a Michael Hague backlist classic

Peter Pan, the book based on J. M. Barrie's famous play, is filled with unforgettable characters: Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow up; the fairy, Tinker Bell; the evil pirate, Captain Hook; and the three children-Wendy, John, and Michael-who fly off with Peter Pan to Neverland, where they meet Indians and pirates and a crocodile that ticks.

Renowned children's-book artist Michael Hague has brought the amazing adventures of Peter Pan to life. His beautiful illustrations capture the wild, seductive power of this classic book. This newly designed edition will be enjoyed by fans young and old alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22912 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 176 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780805072457
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
J. M. Barrie was born in 1860 in the Scottish mill town of Kirriemuir. As a boy, he loved books about pirates and tales of wonder and magic. In the 1890s he began to write for the London stage, beginning his long career as a successful playwright. During his lifetime, Mr. Barrie wrote six novels for adults and more than forty plays, but Peter Pan is the only text he wrote for children.

Michael Hague has illustrated some of the best-loved works of children's literature, including The Velveteen Rabbit, The Wizard of Oz, and The Teddy Bears' Picnic. His lovingly detailed watercolors have earned him a dedicated following and a reputation as one of America's foremost illustrators of books for children. He lives with his wife, Kathleen, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Customer Reviews

A classic, when not denatured by Disney
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.

So long as children are gay and innocent and heartless
Tots already ruined by today's sanitization of children's literature will enjoy Peter Pan very little. Like Alice and her Wonderland, this book can be a bit dark and moody and -- gasp! not politically correct. (Political correctness the most moronic bit of fluff and propaganda to have ever wormed into literature.) It can also be fun and witty and just a tad wistful.

But those children and adults who truly understand what it means to be gay and innocent and heartless, will find this to be one of the more fascinating books to have come out of the Victorian/Edwardian tradition. Tinted lightly by the author's deep emotional disturbance, there is a frantic poignancy to Peter's youth and a pseudo-sexual subtext that will fascinate the careful reader, making this a stunning book for all age groups.

This particular version of the story Peter and Wendy (the original and more appropriate title) is lavishly illustrated in a delicate hand. I highly recommend it.

How can you pass this up?
There is no way I can pass this book up everytime I'm in the bookstore. And I own two different copies of this fantastic tale. Yet, I still pick the book up and flip through the first few pages, smiling ear to ear at the wonderment that makes up Peter Pan.

Peter is a boy that refuses to grow up. He lives in Neverland with his fairy, Tinkerbell, and the Lost Boys. He visits the nursery of Wendy, Michael, and John Darling to hear Wendy's marvelous stories, and one night loses that pesky shadow. When he comes back to get it and tries to stick it back on, Wendy discovers this new boy in their nursery and soon learns about his amazing lifestyle. Entranced by thoughts of pirates, mermaids, and fairies, Wendy, Michael, and John embark on an amazing adventure into a world so unlike ours.

It's bittersweet, it's insightful, it's magical, it's everything and more a child or an adult could ask for in a story. You won't want to leave Neverland, and some days, you may find yourself staring out the window, looking for that hint of light that is Tinkerbell or the boy effortlessly flying between trees and buildings.

Without a doubt the greatest children's story of all time, one that we've all heard, whether it was through a movie or a stage production. Experience the real magic though, and read Barrie's brilliant novel about the boy who won't grow up.