Peter Pan -A Classic Illustrated Edition (Classic Illustrated, CLAS) - Hardcover

J.M. Barrie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0811822974 ISBN 13: 9780811822978

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2000

Synopsis

More than the memorable adventures of a young boy, an elfin fairy, and a swarthy pirate who gives new meaning to the phrase "right hook," Peter Pan is an enduring tale that speaks of magic and innocence, fair play and personal virtue. The timeless artwork of such masters as F. D. Bedford (the original illustrator), Flora White, Alice Woodward, Mabel Lucie Atwell, Arthur Rackham, and Gwynedd Hudson captures the classic story's dreaminess as it follows the adventures of the boy who wouldn't grow up. From the immortal Wendy and Tinker Bell to Captain Hook and the lost boys, make Neverland foreverland with this beautifully illustrated book that reminds the child in all of us how good it feels to fly.

About this title

Review:

"All children, except one, grow up." Thus begins a great classic of children's literature that we all remember as magical. What we tend to forget, because the tale of Peter Pan and Neverland has been so relentlessly boiled down, hashed up, and coated in saccharine, is that J.M. Barrie's original version is also witty, sophisticated, and delightfully odd. The Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael, live a very proper middle-class life in Edwardian London, but they also happen to have a Newfoundland for a nurse. The text is full of such throwaway gems as "Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter Pan when she was tidying up her children's minds," and is peppered with deliberately obscure vocabulary including "embonpoint," "quietus," and "pluperfect." Lest we forget, it was written in 1904, a relatively innocent age in which a plot about abducted children must have seemed more safely fanciful. Also, perhaps, it was an age that expected more of its children's books, for Peter Pan has a suppleness, lightness, and intelligence that are "literary" in the best sense. In a typical exchange with the dastardly Captain Hook, Peter Pan describes himself as "youth... joy... a little bird that has broken out of the egg," and the author interjects: "This, of course, was nonsense; but it was proof to the unhappy Hook that Peter did not know in the least who or what he was, which is the very pinnacle of good form." A book for adult readers-aloud to revel in--and it just might teach young listeners to fly. (Ages 5 and older) --Richard Farr

From the Publisher:

5 1-hour cassettes

About this edition

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0811822974
• ISBN 13: 9780811822978
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176