'All children, except one, grow up.' Mrs Darling half-remembers Peter Pan from her own childhood; he is an insubstantial figure with a baby's laugh and a habit of blowing out stars. She believes him to be imaginary - until he leaves his shadow in her children's nursery. Accompanied by a foul-mouthed fairy, Peter is in search of good stories, and upon learning that the eldest Darling girl, Wendy, knows a great many, he lures her and her two brothers back to the island of Neverland. There, the dreams and imaginings of childhood become real. Lost boys, pirates and warring Indians populate the shifting landscape, which suddenly seems darker and more frightening without the bedside lamps of home. Adapted by J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) from his most famous play, this novelised and illustrated version of the story was first published in 1911.
