Review: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M Barrie

Hi book lovers and welcome to my review of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens!

(WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS)

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Title:

 Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens

Author:

 J M Barrie

Publisher:

 Hodder & Stoughton

Published Date:

 1906

Genre:

 Children's Fantasy

Pages:

 192

Chapters:

 4

Synopsis:

 Before he flew away to Neverland, the little boy who wouldn't grow up dwelt in the heart of London, with birds and fairies as his companions. This whimiscal romp introduces Peter Pan, who discovered the magic of everyday existence amid the trees and flowers of Kensington Gardens.

Source:

Purchased myself on Kindle.

Date Read:

6th April 2014 - 7th April 2014

Review:

**** 4 out of 5 stars

                   Peter Pan In Kensington Gardens is the prequel to Peter & Wendy, it is about a seven day old baby boy called Peter who fly's out of his nursery window to the bird island in Kensington Gardens, to be with the birds because he still remembers being a bird himself. Peter then decides he wants to leave the island to go and play with the other children in the gardens, but he can't cross the river because he can no longer fly as he has realised he is a boy not a bird. The birds make him a nest that floats on the water that Peter uses as a boat. While in the gardens Peter visits the fairies who give him two wishes. He use his first wish to visit his mother, so he fly's back to his nursery to find that it hasn't changed, his crib is still where he left it and his clothes are still in the drawers as they had always been. His mother is asleep on the bed in the nursery, she is still exactly the same as he remembered her. He then returns to the fairies, keeping his other wish until he ready to use it, he tells them he is going to stay with them for a while before returning to his mother for good. A few months later when Peter decides it is time for him to return home, the fairies grant his final wish an he fly's back to his nursery only to find bars on the window and another little boy in his mothers arms. So he returns to the garden angry and full of hatred for his mother.

                  I thought that this book was quite good, it gives us a good insight of why Peter Pan doesn't have a mother, and why he seems to dislike the idea of mother's in general. Although it didn't explain how he gets to Neverland, which was a bit disappointing, it was still a good introduction to Peter's world. I liked the symbolism in this book, especially the idea of baby's once being birds, I think this was quite clever because of the story of the stork bringing babies to their mothers.

                    My favourite part of the book is when Peter goes to visit to his mother, and finds her asleep on the bed just the way he remembered her. While watching her, Peter wants to curl up in the crook her of arm just like he used to, this is when he decides that he will return to her for good one day. I like this part because it shows that Peter once was capable of love, and he realises that his mother does miss him, but unfortunately he thinks that his mother will always wait for him forever.

                    Overall, I think this book is really good, if you can cope with the dated writing and a lot of symbolism. I would recommend this book to others who want to know more of Peters story, but I wouldn't recommend it for children as it is very confusing at times, my eight year old who I read it with didn't really understand very much of it.