Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up

Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up

Peter Pan is a free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up. He was created by a Scottish novelist and playwright Sir James Matthew Barrie.

James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, in 1860. His father David Barrie was a weaver. James was a small child and drew attention to himself with storytelling.

J.M. Barrie's birthplace.

James Barrie studied at the University of Edinburgh. He worked for a year and a half as a journalist on "The Nottingham Journal" before settling in London as a freelance writer in 1885.

He published his first novel "Better Dead" in 1887. Barrie soon had a string of popular novels set in Scotland. His autobiographical novel "Sentimental Tommy" (1896) features a little boy in Kirriemuir who weaves a cloak of romantic fiction between himself and reality and becomes a successful writer. After having some success with fiction, Barrie began writing plays in 1890s.

James Barrie liked to go out for long walks in London's Kensington Gardens, where he met the five Llewelyn Davies brothers in the late 1890s. He found inspiration for his best-known work "Peter Pan" in his friendship with the Davies family. James Barrie would later become the boys' guardian after the death of their parents.

Peter Pan first appeared as a character in Barrie's novel "The Little White Bird" (1902). In chapters 13–18, entitled "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", Peter is a seven-day-old baby and has flown from his nursery to Kensington Gardens in London, where the fairies and birds taught him to fly. The play "Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up" was first produced in December 1904.

James Barrie later adapted and expanded the play's storyline as a novel, published in 1911 as "Peter and Wendy".

James Barrie was appointed a baronet by King George V in 1913. He was made a member of the Order of Merit in 1922. He was the only person to receive the Freedom of Kirriemuir in 1930 in Kirriemuir Town Hall where he was presented with a silver casket containing the freedom scroll. Sir James Matthew Barrie died of pneumonia on 19 June 1937. He was buried at Kirriemuir.

Coat of arms of Sir James Matthew Barrie

Peter Pan is a mischievous little boy who can fly. He has many adventures on the island of Neverland that is inhabited by mermaids, fairies, Native Americans and pirates. The stories about Peter Pan also involve Wendy Darling and her two brothers, Peter's fairy Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and the pirate Captain Hook.

Neverland is an imaginary faraway island where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys live. Peter tells Wendy the way to Neverland is "second to the right, and straight on till morning".

Wendy Moira Angela Darling hesitates at first to fly off to Neverland, but she comes to enjoy her adventures. Ultimately, she chooses to go back to her parents and accepts that she has to grow up.

James Barry described Tinker Bell as a fairy who mended pots and kettles. Her speech consists of the sounds of a tinkling bell, which is understandable only to those familiar with the language of the fairies. Though sometimes ill-tempered, spoiled and jealous, she is also helpful and kind to Peter Pan.

The Lost Boys are boys "who fall out of their prams when the nurse is looking the other way and if they are not claimed in seven days, they are sent far away to the Neverland" where Peter Pan is their captain. There are no "lost girls" because, as Peter explains, girls are far too clever to fall out of their prams. At the end of the novel "Peter and Wendy" the Lost Boys return to London with Wendy and eventually grow up.

Captain James Hook is a pirate captain of the ship "The Jolly Roger". His two principal fears are the sight of his own blood and the crocodile who pursues him after eating the hand cut off by Peter Pan. The crocodile also swallowed a clock, thus giving off a tell-tale ticking sound as it approaches.An iron hook replaced his severed hand, which gave the pirate his name.

These books you can find in our library:

Barrie, James Matthew (1860-1937). Peter Pan [Текст] : [fairy tale] / J. M. Barrie : [предисловие и комментарий Н. М. Демуровой ; художник А. А. Кошкин ; редактор К. Н. Атарова]. - Moscow : Raduga Publishers, 2000. - 214, [2] p. ; 22 cm. - 5000 экз.. - ISBN 5-05-004890-7 (в пер.)

Барри, Д. М. Питер Пэн : повесть / Д. М. Барри ; пер. И. П. Токмакова ; худож. И. В. Бодрова. - Москва : Махаон, 2013. - 176 с. : ил. - (Сказочные повести). - 7000 экз. - ISBN 978-5-18-001042-1

Барри, Дж. Питер Пэн : повесть / Дж. Барри ; пер. И. П. Токмакова. - Москва : ЭКСМО, 2013. - 192 с. - (Классика в школе). - 2000 экз.. - ISBN 978-5-699-55113-2

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