J. M. Barrie

Mrs. Darling dozes in the nursery as her children sleep. Suddenly, the window bursts open, and Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, flies in. Seeing a grown-up in the room, he gnashes his perfect set of pearly baby teeth at her. The children’s nurse, Nana, a Newfoundland dog, gallops in and chases the boy out the window, slamming it shut with her paws. Peter escapes just in time, but his shadow is not so lucky. Now it is trapped in the nursery, and everyone knows he will come back for it. When he does, Wendy, John, and Michael will begin the greatest adventure any siblings have ever had. Peter whisks the children off to Neverland to meet the Lost Boys, Tinker Bell the fairy, and Princess Tiger Lily. Together, they wage fierce battles against the evil Captain Hook and his dreaded band of ruthless pirates, whose only goal in life, it seems, is to destroy Peter and his friends. Â

The magical Peter Pan comes to the night nursery of the Darling children, Wendy, John and Michael. He teaches them to fly, then takes them through the sky to Never-Never Land, where they find Red Indians, wolves, Mermaids and...Pirates. The leader of the pirates is the sinister Captain Hook. His hand was bitten off by a crocodile, who, as Captain Hook explains 'liked me arm so much that he has followed me ever since, licking his lips for the rest of me'. After lots of adventures, the story reaches its exciting climax as Peter, Wendy and the children do battle with Captain Hook and his band. Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is the magical tale that first introduces Peter Pan, the little boy who never grows any older. He escapes his human form and flies to Kensington Gardens, where all his happy memories are, and meets the fairies, the thrushes, and Old Caw the crow. The fairies think he is too human to be allowed to stay in after Lock-out time, so he flies off to an island which divides the Gardens from the more grown-up Hyde Park - Peter's adventures, and how he eventually meets Mamie and the goat, are delightfully illustrated by Arthur Rackham.