J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan & Wendy: Retold by May Byron for Little People with the Approval of the Author

by J. M; retold by May Byron Barrie

144 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1936

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been in my mother's house since I can remember – the cover was inscribed to some forgotten relative in 1936.

As a child I was enthralled by the monochrome watercolour pictures in it, that were so special they had wax sheets to protect them – surely this book was written by elves?

I was only spurred to read it when YouTubers did commentary on the latest Disney version .
This is an abridged edition for children and is quite short but everything is in there.
Being brought up on the original Disney film I never understood how this is a cautionary tale for those who are afraid to grow up.

Peter Pan is a tragic character.

The eternal child sounds like so much fun but it has limitations.
The accumulation of experience leads to wisdom which is part of growing up. So, Peter doesn’t concern himself with such trivial things as memory – often forgetting his friends and even Wendy mid-flight.

Peter is impulsive, arrogant, spiteful and intolerant, all but unable of self-reflection and always will be for evermore – never changing or growing.

The story ends with Peter alone, only returning to charm away generation after generation of young girls to clean his house for him – for all eternity.

The passages are brief – whole battles and adventures can be dealt with in a single page.
I only read this version as it is special to me but I think I might look for an unabridged copy.

This edition, with its beautiful artwork, cute pencil drawings and heavy pages, is a handsome book but is quite sparse on content.

[Iikka]

I'm not giving this a star rating because this was my wife's childhood version of Peter Pan. I would simply not be rating the correct experience, because I am grown and thus cannot fly.