Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

First Impressions of the book

My first impression of the book was good because the story is exciting and vivid. “ A great story involves great events”.( Reader, p. 21) To make a story that children love to read, the plot has to be written well. The plot in the story of Peter Pan is well written because boring moments are rare. When there is a small part that is a bit boring, it is almost instantly followed by  an exciting scene. Furthermore, there are some dramatic scenes that give meaning the storyline. The dramatic scenes together with the action scenes makes the story dynamic and interesting.

 I knew a bit what to expect because I knew the story already before reading the book. I saw the Disney film when I was a child which helped me to create an image in my head.

The use of vocabulary made the book difficult to read sometimes. There were words in the book I had never seen before, but they weren’t of high importance. A couple of words which I had never seen before: reproachfully (Chapter two), and contrivance(chapter 5).  Although I did not  know these words I was still able to follow the story.

Also, I didn’t figure out that Nana was a dog until I saw the movie! Nana is not only a dog, but also the nurse of the family which confused me and I guess some others too.

Insights after discussing the book in class

The discussing in class made me aware of a couple things present in the book that I didn’t notice myself.  Peter is a child who never grows up, but he acts sometimes very mature. Throughout the story, Peter is the leader of the group which is interesting because he isn’t a grown-up.  I didn’t realise this while I was reading the book.  After class, I read a couple chapters again and then it was obvious to me that Peter acts as a mature person as well as a child.

Relating the Theory to the Book

This week’s theory was about what makes a great novel for children. Multiple features of what makes a great novel for children can be found in Peter Pan.  As I mentioned before, the plot is a bit dramatic and gives the story meaning. Besides an interesting plot the story has “An intriguing character and a captivating setting” (Reader, p. 22)

Peter and Wendy both are quite intriguing in my opinion and Neverland seems like an amazing Island where you can be a child and don’t have to grow up.

Age suitability

The story is suitable for children from 7-10 years old. Pirates, fairies and mermaids are present in the story and I think that children love that. Fairies occur in fairy tales which appeals to young children because in general, they like these stories.  However, the pirates are violent which can frighten children to some extent and Peter Pan is not the nicest person either. He talks about killing Hook and the other pirates. I think the majority of the children will love the story even when there’s violence.

The tricky part of the book is probably the vocabulary. I came across a lot of words I didn’t know so the same can be expected of a young child. They will probably struggle with some words but I don’t think this will there global comprehension of the text, so that is why I think children from 7-11 years are capable of dealing with this text that they will probably like too.

598 words.

Sources:

Barrie, J.M., (1911), Peter and Wendy